Whoville High
by novelist742
Summary: If you think highschool's "fun," wait 'til you come to Whoville High...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

**In advance:**

**a) Sorry if the character offends people for using "emo" to describe Jojo**

**b) Sorry if Jojo is out of character**

**c) Sorry if the narrator/speaker sounds Mary-Sue-ish (tell me and explain what to do to change that, or if it's something I can change later in the story, then I will)**

**d) Sorry if this chapter is too short for your liking if you enjoy my writing**

First day at Whoville Public High School as a junior, and already I was considered a total geek. It wasn't that I had the geek look or anything, but it was more of the way I acted. Could I help but hyperventilate when I came into the music room and saw the most amazing instruments ever? And so what if I happened to carry a pitch pipe in my pocket at all times? And when the music teacher went to play a pitch on the piano, I sang the note before she could hit the key? I'm just a girl who has nearly perfect pitch and loves music, is that so wrong?

Apparently, it was, since I'd been dunked into a freaking toilet as soon as that class let out. I guess there are some music nerd haters out there, huh?

I stared into space, waiting for Whostory, the class after Whomusic, to start. My blonde hair was still soaking wet and dripping onto the desk all over my notebooks. The toilet water seeped through to the papers, damaging the blue and red lines.

I sighed.

The screech of the chair next to me alerted me to someone nearby. I jumped, startled by the sudden noise. My hazel eyes shot over to the right, and I saw an emo-looking boy, dressed in head to toe in black and gray fur. Despite his gloomy appearance I had to admit, he was cute.

"…"

Silence. That's all I got from the kid.

I rolled my eyes and looked away.

"Are you sitting with me because you pity me?" I asked him, watching the Who's filter in the classroom, chattering away like the first day of school was just a social gathering for friends of last year.

"Oh wait," I snorted, looking him up and down. He gave me a disinterested look. "Are you going to dunk me in the toilet like the last class did? Is that why you're sitting next to me? So you can have first dibs on beating up the music geek?"

At the words, "music geek," his disinterested, passive face turned to just a passive one. I didn't notice the slight turn of his body, shifting to get a better look at me.

"Well, whatever," I muttered, crossing my arms and sinking into my chair. "It's not like anyone cares if I get beat up, anyway."

The teacher burst into the room at that moment, carrying books upon books upon books. Her face was hidden behind the massive amount of stuff she was carrying. The words "Whostory" and the novelist "Dr. Seuss" were just a blur in the stack.

"Hello class!" she chuckled, wobbling as she walked toward her desk. "Whoa," the books tilted, nearly touching the ceiling, "Whoa…whoa…WHOA!"

The books fell, but surprisingly fell in order on her desk, stacking perfectly together. The class laughed, pointing at the teacher on the ground with her glasses on the very tip of her nose in a lop-sided position.

"Yes, yes," she said, getting up, brushing the dirt off of her pink fur. "Ha-ha, very funny, I know. I'm Mrs. Bumble, and I'll be teaching you Whostory, like I have been for the past two years of your high school experience! Pop quiz! _Who_," she chuckled, "was the first Who-mayor of our time?"

She skimmed the class for hands, but no one had volunteered.

"Jojo!" she said, pointing to the kid next to me. "_You _should know this one."

Jojo? That was his name?

"…"

"Ah!" Mrs. Bumble said, laughing. "Clever! You don't want to give away the answer to the rest of the class, do you Jojo? No, you want to make sure they have a top notch learning experience! Very good! You're just like your father!"

He rolled his chocolate brown eyes.

"Now then, how about you, um…" Mrs. Bumble said, looking at me.

"I'm new here," I responded, softly.

In unison every Who in the class turned to look at me. Their beady little eyes stared me down, observing every little thing about me. I was like prey in a hunt—one wrong move and I was dead.

"So you are!" Mrs. Bumble chuckled, whipping out a sheet of paper. "Class, please welcome," she looked down at the piece of paper, "Elizabeth Anne Gloria Gertrude Sally-may Tracy Lisa Abigail Zen Brittany Cat Dina Hilary Claire Quinn Igor Kayla Penelope…"

I groaned, hearing the small laughs from the students around me. Why did I have to have such a long name?

"…Marie Mary Susan Suzanne Louise Louis Lea Bert—"

"Just call me Liz," I interrupted the teacher.

She looked up from the paper and smiled.

"Of course," Mrs. Bumble said, "Class, please welcome Liz Mcgurtle."

A series of mellow hellos came my way.

"Tell us a bit about yourself, and why you're so…"

"…?"

Her eyes looked me up and down.

"So wet."

I heard some kids in the back crack up, and a voice I recognized spoke up.

"I guess she had an accident in the bathroom," said one girl.

I turned and saw the three girls who had dunked me into the toilet earlier.

"Jennifer," Mrs. Bumble snapped, "Be polite!"

"Yeah, pretty girl," I said, my eyes glaring a hole into her head. "Shut up and back off."

"Mrs. Bumble!" 'Jennifer' whined.

"Ms. Mcgurtle, we don't talk like that here…"

"Yeah, 'Ms. Mcgurtle'," Jennifer mocked, laughing. "We don't talk like that here! Go back to whatever slum you came from!"

My fists clenched but I responded with nothing.

"Jennifer!" the teacher scolded briefly, "Now then, let's continue with our lesson!"

As everyone's focus returned to the front of the class, no one noticed the single tear roll down my cheek. Well, all except for one…

* * *

"Today freaking sucked," I muttered under my breath, slamming the door shut as I walked into my yellow home. "It's only been a day and I miss Whatville already. At least there people actually accepted diversity."

I slammed my book bag on the ground with a "thud" and trudged to my room. I walked down a soft, yellow hallway with shimmering tears streaming down my face. The scent of toilet was still trapped in my little nose and my fur was still dripping wet. Shaking hands wiped away blue tears from my cheeks. I sniffled and snuffled. I huffed and puffed. I wanted nothing more than to go back to my old him in Whatville.

"I hate this place," I whispered. "The people here are _awful._"

I barged into my room, expecting the comfort of familiarity to sweep over me—but nothing came. Only brown boxes stacked atop each other and blank, white walls greeted me. My room was not a place for comfort. But if I couldn't cool off there, where in Whoville was I supposed to go to release all of this hurt and anger?

I smiled and quickly attacked one box labeled, "Liz's Prized Possessions: DO NOT TOUCH" and ripped it open. I dug past the diaries and books, swimming through a sea of things that would not help me ease the pain. And then I saw it.

As if it were gold, I carefully took it out, nearly crying from the beauty. This…this right here was my sanctuary. It was my heaven to bring me up from hell. It was the missing piece to an extremely large puzzle. It was the sun to tanning. It was my Dick to Jane.

It was…

…

My _iWhat._

It was the most beautiful thing in the world. And it was _all _mine.

I flopped out on the carpet floor, plugging in my earphones at the same time. I clicked play and let myself get taken awawy into a completely other world.

Ah, the beauty of music. It was like a relaxing bath, washing music all over me. The bubbles from the soap were music notes dancing along the staff. Crescendos and decrescendos were the movements of the water whenever I lifted a leg or arm in the tub.

It was like a delicious meal to eat. The chicken legs were drumsticks, booming as they hit the plate. The screech of knives and forks were the orchestra while the salt and pepper were maracas…

The front door of the house made a thwack so loud I could hear it through my iWhat.

"Sweetie, are you home?" a woman's voice came.

"Yeah, Mom," I called carelessly, "I'm home."

Realization hit me.

I looked _horrible _from that day. My fur was still wet from the three times I had been dunked in the toilet and I didn't smell that great either. If Mom saw me like that she'd have a panic attack and questions would be flying like missiles in a war.

"Honey?"

I burst out of my room and sprinted down the hallway. _Bathroom, _I thought, opening door by door in search of it. _Where the heck is the bathroom?_

The clacking of Mom's heels echoed throughout the empty halls. She was coming closer and time was running out.

I searched aimlessly for the one place I could hide my sadness from my mom. My room wasn't safe—she would just come rampaging in anyway. I couldn't let her see me this torn. It would break her heart to pieces.

Finally, and just as mom came to the hallway I was in, I found the bathroom. Joy flooded through me as I slid into the mini sanctuary and slammed the door shut.

"Liz?"

"Can't talk, mom!" I shouted, locking myself in. "I have to go to the bathroom really, really badly so I won't be out for a while!"

I swear I could see mom's freaked out face through the door.

_That was so lame…_

"O-Okay, Liz," she said, rather calmly. "Well, don't be too long. The mayor and his wife are coming over for dinner. I suppose it's to greet us into Whoville since it's our first day here! Oh well, be out by six for dinner and dress appropriately. That means get a nice bow out for your hair and comb your fur for once!"

_As if whether I wear a pink or brown bow in my hair __really__ matters…_

"Oh and one more thing," she continued, walking away with her clacking heels. "Don't forget to tell us all at supper about your wonderful school day! I'm sure everyone will be interested and want to hear all the juicy details at dinner!"

The sound of my mother's high-heeled shoes faded as she walked away.

Sinking to the white tile floor, I leaned against the bathtub.

I couldn't tell any of them the truth. I mean, if I told them, what good would that do? It hadn't been Dad's fault he was moved to Whoville to work for the Who computer company. It was just where he needed to be to support the family. I'm sure that if I were in his position, I would do the same. This getting beat up at school thing was something I had to keep to myself—no matter what.

My heart sank, and I slouched in conflicting thoughts.

Despite this acceptance, keeping this issue inside didn't help my emotions any.

My lower lip trembled and I let out the sobs I had been keeping in all day. With tears in my eyes, I hissed, "I hate Whoville!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**In advance:**

**a) I originally had a different chapter here, so for those of you who have read the original before this: sorry for the confusion.**

**b) Sorry if the character offends people for using "emo" to describe Jojo.**

**c) Sorry if Jojo is out of character.**

**d) Sorry if the main character sounds Mary Sue-ish**

**e) Sorry if this chapter is too short if you like my writing**

Can you say "awkward?"

No, really.

You see, I was fully prepared to talk about the best day of my life, convince everyone at the dinner party that I was fine with this move and talk about how "great" that Whoville place was. And then _he_ had to come over.

That emo-kid, what's-his-face, happened to be the Mayor's only son. If I knew that, along with the fact that he was actually coming over for supper as well, I would've pretended to be having bladder issues throughout the whole night!

Lying in front of total strangers is one thing—but lying in front of a classmate who knows I had a horrible day and can rat me out at any moment is another.

"Oh, Mr. McDodd," laughed Dad, his blonde fur jiggling as he laughed. "You are too funny!"

"Please, call me Ned," the Mayor said. "Now, Mr. McGurtle…"

My hazel eyes shifted down the table, seeing Mom and Mrs. McDodd chatting away about cooking recipes and all that crap moms love to talk about. Did it really matter what seasoning chicken had to have? Or the type of _pasta _people ate?

Seriously, get some lives.

And then my wandering eyes fell upon that one Who who had been quiet all throughout the dinner: what's-his-face.

Yeah, I know: bad Liz! You should've remembered his name! Bad manners, Liz! Very bad manners!

Okay, who here gives a shit about bad manners?

…

Exactly.

Speaking of manners, that kid hardly spoke throughout the whole dinner. Of course, I didn't either, but at least I smiled _twice_ at the company: once when we opened the door and once when the food finally came out. The last one counts, doesn't it?

"So, Liz," Mr. McDodd said, leaning on the table while chomping on his roast beast. "How do you like Whoville so far? Great, huh? It's really _hip,_ isn't it?"

I looked nervously at the emo who seemed to be gazing out the window. His eyes were glazed over, and he obviously wanted to be anywhere but there at the moment.

"Oh yeah," I said, forcing a third smile on my face. "Whoville is great."

"Ah, wonderful!" Mr. McDodd cried, clapping his hands together. "Whoville is the place where _nothing _goes wrong!"

Sally, his wife, gave him a small smirk and a raise of the eyebrows.

Mr. McDodd coughed.

"Well, except for once," he said, glancing over at his son. "But I'm sure you've heard that story? Of Horton and the doom our whole world was under?"

"Ah, yeah, but not the full details. Didn't a giraffe have our world on a flower or something?"

Mr. McDodd's food fell from his mouth back onto his plate. Mom and Dad exchanged glances and then glared at me. Mrs. McDodd, however, kept eating, saying, "Ugh, this food is delicious! Suzanne, you must give me the recipe..."

A few moments of silence passed by which drew the emo's attention back to the table. He cocked an eyebrow my way as if to ask, "What'd you say to the old man?"

If Mr. McDodd's jaw could have dropped to the floor, I'm sure it would have. His fork lay helpless in his hand and soon flopped onto the dish before him.

Mom and Dad kept their glare directly on me. Their looks screamed: "What'd you do to upset him? That is _it! _You're grounded from now until you die, young lady!"

Suddenly, the Mayor smiled.

"Then I shall tell you!" he laughed. "Oh goodness, I suppose Whatville didn't get the full story. It's probably because it's so far away. You see my dear, it all started when a giant, invisible elephant named Horton came across a clover…"

About thirty minutes later, as both myself and what's-his-face were nearly asleep, I heard Mr. McDodd say:

"And then I found Jojo here," he said, (_Oh yeah, __that's__ his name!_) winking at his son. "And…well…we headed back to town and he grabbed the connection from our world to Horton's and gave out a loud scream. He saved our world, Jojo did!"

I bit back the sarcasm that wanted to come out any second. I glanced over at 'Jojo' who seemed to be falling asleep in his roast beast. Nearly laughing, I coughed a few times to cover it up.

How could that emo kid save the world by screaming? I hadn't heard him speak at all during the whole time I'd been in Whoville.

"…and I'm sure if you ask him really nicely," Mr. McDodd's voice cut through my thoughts, "He will be your friend! How about it, Jojo? Will you do it for me?"

Jojo looked exasperated and sighed. He was obviously in an uncomfortable position. He could either obey his father's wish and join me in Whoville High hell or disobey and move on with his seemingly boring life.

Then Jojo, with the twirl of his chair and a, "Whatever," look, hopped off of his seat and walked to a different room to do who knows what.

"You see?" Mr. McDodd said, smiling, "He's willing to take you under his wing! That's my boy!"

If that was Mr. McDodd's idea of willing then this town had some issues. Major issues.

"Liz," Mom said, her pink fur shimmering in the dining room light as she leaned near me. "Why don't you go see what Jojo is doing?"

The adult who's and what's looked at me expectedly and I inwardly groaned. They wanted me to go so they could talk without a stupid teenage kid like me there. Eh, whatever they wanted was cool with me. Personally, I was glad for an excuse to get away from the table.

"'k," I shrugged, getting up and walking away.

Pfft, as if I was going to find that pipsqueak. I had better things to do.

I walked through the empty halls and passed through the rooms in a blur. Finally, I came to the back of the house. I slammed open the door ignoring the patio and backyard pool, turned to my left and saw vines creeping up along the side of the house to the roof. I placed one foot on the bottom and both my hands clung to the massive amount of plants.

The seed of hesitation wedged itself into my heart for a moment.

_Maybe I should go find Jojo…I mean, Mom will be upset when she finds I didn't hang with him. So should I really be doing __this__?_

I heard the laughter from inside the house. Voices rose joyfully, talking about Whoville's splendor. It made me sick.

_Hell yes._

I began my climb, fine at first, but as I came to the middle, my legs began to shake. Yet I pressed onward until I reached the top. Clambering onto the roof, the fears were swept away when I swa Whoville as a whole.

Every house had the glint of gold as the sun set. The blue sky was soft and slightly pink with clouds swirling around. Couples kissed, walking along the sidewalks and streets with their hands entwined. Tiny children ran from playgrounds back home to their mothers' welcoming arms.

From far away, this place looked great and peaceful. But up close, reality took a hold.

The memory of being shoved head first into a public restroom toilet flashed before my eyes.

"Okay," I said, rolling my eyes and breaking my iwhat out of my furry pockets. "Fuck this shit."

Music blasted into my ears and once again I was in a totally different world.

Ballerinas danced along the clouds above, forming the puffs into unique shapes. They leaped and jumped along the sky, painting the beauty of music as they frolicked to Whozart's Concerto in G.

Then, suddenly, the song switched to the theme song of Pirates of the Whatibbean. Pirates on a ship sailed through the darkening sky, chasing away the ballerinas. String instruments played nervously as wailing trumpets and trombones sang their loudest. Percussion snared and snarled as the pirates fought with each other while the flutes told the story of Orlando Whom, the actor playing the lead male.

And then it all came crashing down as I fell back into the world of reality. I was still in Whoville—a reject from this society. My old friends in Whatville hadn't even bothered to call to check up on me. And when I called them, they never had time to talk. I was lonely and things sucked.

Life wasn't as pleasing as the music I listened to. I doubted it ever would be.

Sighing, I ripped out the earphones and turned off my iwhat. Wrapping up the cord around the tiny object, I ended my music session.

But, if my iwhat was off, why did I hear drums?

"Liz, Liz, where are you?" Mom's voice called. "The McDodds left an _hour _ago! Honestly, talk about bad manners! Young lady, you get back here right now!"

"Yeah, yeah!" I called, "I'm coming!"

I waited to hear the back door close before I listened for the sound of drums again.

Nothing.

_Perhaps it was just my imagination_, I mused, climbing down the vines.

But a sinking feeling in my stomach knew that I had definitely heard something. And I was going to get to the bottom of it.

* * *

Black and white keys stared at me, calling for my fingers to brush against their smooth surfaces. A rush filled my heart as my eyes gazed upon their beauty. I sat there in the music room, looking at the grand piano in silence. It was so wonderful to look at…

I had been coming in early to school, in order to escape some of the bullying I still had. The majority of students had laid off, finding comfort in harassing some kid who picked his nose while doing a presentation in Whoglish class the week before, so now everyone had turned on him. Well, everyone except for a few girls who still liked to flush my head down a toilet once every three days.

I had known the bullying would wear off after time, but I still hated Whoville with a passion. I mean, come on, what type of losers like to bully the new kid?

And I _still _didn't have anyone to talk to—and the one person who I could actually talk to without fear of getting beat up or insulted was the most deadly silent Who I had ever met: Jojo.

Yeah, I had finally remembered his name (after like a week of studying it, trying to be _nice _to the biggest social reject in Whoville—then again, I shouldn't be talking).

I sighed and played a few major and minor chords on the piano. Augmented notes played along in sequence. Major fifths, minor thirds…ugh! It was just amazing!

I closed my eyes, letting my furry little hands play along the instrument. My mind began to wander away from reality…

_The black of the microphone shimmered in the white light from above. Audience members murmured and whispered, shifting bulletins in their smooth hands with several "whooshes" of flapping paper. High-heeled toes tapped as bright flashes from cameras hit my eyes. The black abyss lingered around the single light that shone on me._

_My heart began to race and jump, feeling like a wild beast trapped in my chest. It screamed and pounded against the bone cage it was in, yearning to break free and dash away with rapid speed. The sound of the beast pumped in my ears. It growled ferociously as it clawed at the bones. Slamming its body against the white bars again and again, I knew it would not stop._

_The beast's actions took affect down to my legs, making them shake with fear and nervousness. Such power the animal had produced! It made my body wobble like a building falling and weakening in the midst of an earthquake. My finger tips trembled and clung to the light blue material of my dress, as though it would keep me stable and tame the beast within. It was no use._

_The animal would not stop its mission to break free. And just as I was about to give way, a single note rang through the air._

_The beast stopped beating against the cage._

_Again the note played._

_A dull moan from the animal came and then silence._

_What was happening? Why did the beast calm itself?_

_A chord sang, ringing like bells through a church in my mind. Beautiful…it was beautiful._

_What was it?_

_Black and white zoomed by my hazel eyes. Circles with vertical lines upon horizontal ones danced along my vision. Unreadable words above and blow them ran past me._

_A sound emitted from my throat and realized what I was doing…_

_I was singing._

"All I want," I sang, "Is a room somewhere far away from the cold night air, with one enormous chair. Oh, wouldn't it be lovely?"

I kept playing, smiling gently. Seeing as iwhats and iwhos weren't allowed in school, this was the only way I could escape away from all the bullying and loneliness I was going through.

"Lots of chocolate for me to eat," I continued. "Lots of coal making lots of heat, warm face, warm hands, warm feet—oh, wouldn't it be lovely?"

"You there," said a voice.

My head snapped up to see a teacher standing by the doorway. Her glasses were pressed up high upon her nose and she glared at me.

"Homeroom is about to start," she scolded, "You'd better be on your way."

I quickly stood, knocking the piano stool down to the ground. A blush crept onto my face as the homeroom bell rang.

"Quickly, now," she said. "I'll take care of the stool."

I nodded silently and began to walk quickly out of there. I began to pass her, but she clamped onto my shoulder for a moment.

"What's your name?"

"Liz," I responded, "Liz McGurtle."

"…I see," she said, "That will be all. Carry on, Ms. McGurtle."

I quickly high tailed it out of there, not noticing the look interested look the teacher gave me.

"Shit, shit, shit," I muttered under my breath as I ran through the halls of Whoville High, "I'm seriously going to be late for class…"

I slammed into a fuzzy body, and began to fall backward. I shut my eyes, expecting to go crashing to the ground.

Nothing happened.

Hands caressed the small of my back and I could feel warm breath upon my face.

"Careful there," said a deep voice.

My eyes shot open to see an _amazingly _cute Who staring at me with light green eyes. Brown bangs swept his face in just the right way and he had this air of strength about him. He wasn't shy. That was a definite as he gazed at me without a hint of hesitation.

"You okay?" he asked.

My jaw dropped.

"Hi," I said in a daze.

He chuckled.

"I'm guessing you are," he said, helping me stand on my own two feet.

His right hand held my fingers delicately still, and remained there.

"I'm sorry I ran into you," I blurted.

"It's cool. Forget it."

"Oh…"

"I'm Jake, by the way, Jake Baxter."

"I'm…I'm…"

"The new kid I've been hearing about?"

"Uh, that depends," I said, "What have you heard?"

He smirked.

"You're a music geek extraordinaire, aren't you?" Jake asked.

My blush deepened.

"Y-Yeah, well," I said, laughing nervously. "I like my music."

The bell rang again, signaling I was officially late to homeroom.

"Oh shit!" I said, stomping my foot down on the hard floor of the empty hallway. "I'm freaking late! I'm dead!"

"Nah, it's cool," Jake said, holding up a hallway pass, "I'll walk you to your class and tell your teacher you were helping me get something from the main office. Where's your classroom?"

"F-33?" I responded.

"In F-wing?" he asked, "What are you doing all the way here in A-wing?"

I looked back toward the music room, guiltily. Jake followed the direction of my eyes and laughed.

"I should've known," he said. "You're infamous for that. Come on. Let's go to your homeroom before it ends. We have like ten minutes 'til it's over though, so we have time."

"O-okay," I stuttered.

What the hell was wrong with my tongue?

We walked down the hallways in silence, a few kids from each of the classes, looking incredulously at the two of us from inside and then spreading whatever rumor they decided was fitting for that occasion.

"Um," I said, after earning another look from a classroom full of kids. "Why is everyone crowding around the doors to get a look at us?"

Jake chuckled.

"I'm the first person to really talk to you, aren't I?" he said. "Of course they'd be interested...that and I'm into sports. So I'm kind of popular around here. Me talking to a social reject is probably new to them all. But hey, someone's gotta start talking to you eventually, right?"

So that was the type of school this was? Social class by whether or not you played sports? I seriously did not understand why large amounts of people went gaga over jocks. I mean, really, they're normally either running in a huge circle called a track or throwing pigskin across the field (a.k.a. football).

I kept silent though, and continued walking with him.

"I've heard you've been having trouble at school," Jake suddenly said, as we approached F-wing.

"Huh?" I asked. "Oh, no. I'm fine here and—"

He gave me a look.

"Don't lie," Jake said. "New kids always have it rough here the first few weeks. Just last through it a little longer, you'll be fine."

If that was supposed to be comforting, it failed miserably.

"Thanks for the advice," I said, nonetheless.

"Here we are," Jake said, halting in front of my classroom and opening the door. "Ladies first."

I gulped. It was my first time being late to homeroom, and I really wasn't sure how Mrs. McGee was going to take it.

I stepped into the classroom, and walked forward to her desk. Her blonde, curly hair was in her face as she read a book. Suddenly, her brown eyes snapped up to meet mine.

"Well, well," she said, raising her eyebrows. "You're five minutes late, Ms. McGurtle. Do you have a pass?"

"Lighten up, Mrs. McGee," said a voice behind me and a furry hand rested on my shoulder. "She was helping me carry something from the office. I'm her pass. Trust me. She was with me."

I heard a few gasps from my fellow classmates.

"I see," Mrs. McGee said.

She smiled as if she thought Jake and I were boyfriend and girlfriend. But she was wrong. She was _really _wrong.

"Very well then," she said, nodding at Jake's direction. "Get to class, Mr. Baxter. Ms. Mcgurtle will not be marked tardy."

I was turned around by the hand on my shoulder, soon facing Jake who had a smirk on his face.

"You'll be fine," he whispered, brushing a strand of hair out of my face. He twirled on his heel and walked out the door. "Good luck today, little Ms. Liz, and try not to run into any other guys today."

The class roared in conversation as my face turned beat red.

"Stupid," I muttered to myself, touching the strand of hair he had brushed away. "He shouldn't be acting so familiarly with me."

"Liz, take a seat," Mrs. McGee chuckled, going back to her book.

"Yes, ma'am."

I briskly glided to my seat, trying to block out the comments from my fellow students. Sitting down I heard a sigh to the right of me.

Jojo.

"It's nothing," I said in response to his cocked eyebrow.

He shrugged, as if to say, "Whatever you say."

_It was just nothing, wasn't it?_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:**

**In advance:**

**a) I changed the last chapter, so sorry if this confuses those who read the original.**

**b) Sorry if the any character uses "emo" to describe Jojo.**

**c) Sorry if the main character is a Mary Sue. **

**d) Sorry if this chapter is too short for your liking.**

"So, Liz," said one of the girls primping herself up in the bathroom mirror as I dried my hands.

It was my lunch period that day, and it had been a few days since the whole Jake Baxter thing. I had hoped that people had forgotten about it—but that was probably asking too much from the Rumor God above.

"I've heard some things about you and Jake Baxter," she said, twirling her pink hair around a few times before letting the curl bounce back.

She exchanged looks with her cronies and they all giggled in unison. Gag me.

"Oh really?" I asked, attempting to be polite.

"Are you two really going out?"

I blanched at that and rolled my eyes.

_So much for being polite…_

"I've got to go," I responded, throwing out the paper towel in my hands as I walked out and slung my brown bag over my shoulders. "I really don't have time for this."

"Wait, but—"

Her shouts fell on deaf ears as I opened the door and rammed right into—

A black and gray little Who fell to the ground with a thud. He looked startled for a moment and then returned to a calm yet annoyed look.

"Jojo!" I exclaimed.

He glared up at me, dirt from kids' shoes all over him. And trust me, dirt with black and gray doesn't go too well.

I offered a hand to help him up. He looked at it a second before shoving it away and getting up by himself.

I heard a few laughs from other students roaming in the hallway and standing at their lockers. Some whispered to each other, "What a loser…that kid might have 'saved' the town, but he's seriously such a reject."

I clenched my fist at those comments, trying to control my anger.

Jojo looked away quickly and hid his embarrassment with a small kick of his right foot, trying to act oblivious to the horrid things those stupid students were saying about him.

"Come on," I said, half wanting to say sorry, but suppressing it by simply walking ahead. "Let's just go. We're late for lunch."

He shrugged and walked after me. A sigh came from his lips. God, why didn't this kid say anything ever?

"Liz!" called the girl from the bathroom, "Say hi to that sexy Jake Baxter for me!"

I blushed, but kept looking forward and tried to get it to go away.

Jojo, catching sight of it, gave me a look.

"Shut up," I said, my blush deepening.

He shrugged and slouched.

"Ms. McGurtle!" cried a shrill voice.

Jojo and I turned to see Mrs. Muse, the music teacher at Whoville High chasing us down.

"You," she panted, pointing a finger at me. "Yes, _you_ are joining chorus, young lady."

"Huh?"

"One of the faculty let me know about your little 'visits' in the morning to the music room," she said, smiling brightly. "She said you had an excellent voice…"

The memory of that one morning I had been in the music room and a teacher walked in popped in my head. I felt myself flush with shyness.

"And it took me _forever _to track you down," she said, exasperatedly. "Good God, I was lucky I had been talking with a student about you just now when they had pointed you out to me. Ah, Jojo!"

She looked down at the silent Who.

"Thank you for the copy of the—"

He gave her a slightly frightened look and she instantly shut up.

_Huh?_

"Anyway," Mrs. Musa coughed, "The choir meets after school every Tuesday to rehearse, so I'll see you there, Ms. McGurtle!"

And just as suddenly as she had appeared, she disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"I guess I'm in chorus?" I half asked, half said to Jojo.

He shrugged once again and we continued on our path to the cafeteria.

We entered the cafeteria and Jojo instantly zoomed over to a table filled with rocker kids.

"Yo, Jojo!" yelled one kid, a black and gray hat on his head. "You're late, what were you doing, hanging in the music room again?"

I stared incredulously at the amount of boys flocking toward him. How the hell could a kid so silent have so many rocker friends?

"What are you staring at?" whispered a voice in my ear.

I jumped and looked to see Jake Baxter standing there, directly behind me.

"Not what," I muttered. "A Who."

"Oh," he said. "You got a crush?"

"N-no," I said quickly.

He looked over to a table filled with boys waving at him with girls sitting next to each one of them. He then glanced back at me.

"Want to sit with me?"

It was then that I noticed that every Who in the cafeteria had their eye on me. It was that classic, "I'm pretending that I'm talking to my friends, but I'm really looking at you," thing.

"Nah, it's cool," I said, walking away and waving. "I've got somewhere to be."

"But you just got here," Jake blurted. "With that emo kid."

I stared at him. He was watching me?

"Uh, Jojo, you mean," I said, kind of annoyed.

"Yeah, him," he replied. "So stay…"

"I was just doing him a favor," I said. "I kind of accidentally knocked him down when I ran into him—"

"Easy to believe," Jake said, "He's small and scrawny."

"I-I guess," I said, a little uneasily, "Anyway, I really do have to go. It was nice seeing you—"

He grabbed my arm and smiled.

"Wanna come to my game this Saturday?"

"Game…?"

"Football game."

I nearly gagged, but held it back.

"F-Football game?"

"Yeah, wanna come?"

I looked down at my furry little feet.

What was I supposed to say? "I hate sports of all kinds, so, hell no, I don't want to go"?

Not an option as I looked into those pleading green eyes of his. Why was I a sucker for beggars?

"Sure," I said, forcing my mouth into a smile. "What time is it?"

"7:00p.m. sharp," he said, patting my back. "Thanks, short stuff."

"Short stuff?"

"Yeah, you're really short. You might be shorter than that scrawny, emo kid, what's-his-face."

"Jojo?"

"Uh, yeah. Him."

I furrowed my brow. How many times would I have to remind this kid of Jojo's name? I mean, I had had issues with his name too when I started out, but at least I didn't go around—

"So I'll see you there on Saturday?"

"Yeah," I said, distractedly, still upset, "Yeah, sure. I really should go—"

"Come on, stay with me."

I looked up and fell for that stupid gaze of his again.

"Okay…"

Before I could prepare myself, he dragged me over to his jock table and plopped me down by his side. Five boys and five girls surrounded us. Each of the girls either had a cheerleader outfit on or they had their jocks' jersey on. Either way, I nearly puked.

"You're the new girl, right?" said one girl, pointing at me. "Liz? Eh, you're not too bad looking."

"Uh, thanks, I guess?"

"No problem!" she said, as though she had just given me the biggest compliment in the world.

"So what are you interested in?" said one of the jocks, his girl slung over him like an accessory.

"Music."

"…Fascinating," he said, but his tone hinted at anything other than that.

"Do any sports?"

"No."

Everyone fell silent, unsure of what to talk about, seeing as we had no interests to share.

"You play an instrument?" Jake asked.

"Yeah," I responded. "Piano and clarinet. I suck at everything else."

"I used to play the recorder!" one of the cheerleaders randomly said.

"…That's nice," I responded, awkwardly.

"Are you coming to Saturday's game against Howtown?" asked another jock.

"Yeah she is," Jake responded for me, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me closer. "She's cheering me on! And I'll make a touch down just for her, you watch."

Everyone exchanged looks at the table and I laughed nervously.

The feeling of someone watching me came suddenly. I looked up to see Jojo staring at me, completely ignoring whatever his friends were saying. He had a look on his face saying, "Yeah, whatever you say. Of course you're not involved with him."

I looked down, suddenly not hungry.

Why? I had no idea.

"Excuse me," I said, standing up and packing up my lunch. "I gotta talk to my Whoglish teacher about a paper I wrote."

"O-okay…"

I quickly walked out of the cafeteria, knowing full well that those stupid students' gazes were on my back. I'm sure Jojo and his friends were staring too—anyone who abruptly leaves the cafeteria is sure to get that type of attention.

I ran down the hallway, heading for anywhere other than such a crowded area like the cafeteria. I headed for the bathroom again, not knowing where else to go. Slamming through the door, I hastily shut it behind me.

Sighing, I sank to the floor.

"God this place is annoying," I muttered.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" laughed a shrill voice.

I looked up to see Jennifer and her two goons—the bitches who had started the habit of flushing my head down a toilet on the very first day.

"Why," said one, "It's Jake Baxter's girlfriend!"

"I'm not his girlfriend," I shot back, rising up and ready to bolt out of there at any second.

"Sure, you're not," cackled Jennifer. "Girls," she snapped her fingers and the two freaks had my arms, "Let's teach her a lesson for flirting with one of the jocks…"

* * *

I sat in my bed, annoyed and frustrated. For one, I had been dunked in the toilet again. And two, I had heard the music coming from nowhere for the second time since I had been in Whoville. And if it were a normal hour, let's say 4 o'clock in the afternoon instead of in the morning, I would _totally _track down where that racket was coming from.

In general, Whoville seriously sucked. I mean, yeah, it was getting better. But come on, getting dunked in the toilet over and over gets old—really old.

And, of course, when Whostory came around, I had to sit next to Jojo while I was soaking wet. And of _course_ I had to be all embarrassed about it and of _course _he had to notice the huge ass blush on my face.

I was beginning to wonder if there was ever a time in Whoville when I wasn't embarrassed.

Ugh…Thank Heavens the stupid bullying was dying down though. It was better than it had been. I wasn't getting dunked on a regular basis and kids left me alone for the most part, unless they decided to ask me about that jock, Jake Baxter.

My heart quickened at the thought of him.

_Nothing, huh? _I thought, glaring at the ceiling. _Looks like he's starting to get you wrapped around his finger…_

A large cymbal crash sounded and I sat up in my bed, startled.

I sank back into my pink pillow, sighing.

At least Jake was actually talking to me, unlike the rest of the school. After all, Mom did want me to be social…

That reminded me! She also wanted me to invite Jojo over sometime. And how the heck was I going to ask him to come over? Would I walk over to him during lunch and randomly be like, "Yo, come over after school," in front of all of his rocker friends and risk being totally made fun of for the rest of the day? Or maybe I could slip him a note during Whostory inviting him to my house?

I smiled gently.

Yeah, I'd invite him for Sunday through a note. I couldn't do Saturday because I had that stupid football game to go to.

Unless I invited him to come with me on Saturday...

I shook my head, nearly laughing at that idea. He seriously wasn't the football type.

I paused.

If he wasn't the jock type of guy, what _was _he?

He was always quiet, that was sure. But why was that? He looked so lonely all the time too. And like he had something to say, but feared saying it for some reason.

I looked down at my fuzzy hands in the darkness of the night. They tightened into fists.

_Why should I care whether he's lonely or not? It's not my business._

But for some odd reason unfathomable to me, I really did care.

I really did…

"BOOM!"

_That's it, _I thought, forgetting all about Jojo and Jake, _I'm going to find out where that noise is coming from by the end of this month!_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**a) Sorry it took so long to update. I've been busy. I should be updating more frequently now that I have more time. I'll be updatng probably on Mondays and Fridays every week (except when I have vacation.)**

**b) Sorry for any grammatical errors in this chapter.**

**c) Sorry if Jojo is OOC, tell me what I can do to change that and I will!**

**d) Thanks for all the reviews guys!**

"GO WHOVILLE HIGH!" screamed the who next to me. "GO! GO! GO!"

…

I swear to God I had no idea why he was screaming. Was there even a _point _to his mindless yells?

And it wasn't just him. Oh no. The whole freaking audience was screaming at the top of their lungs and standing up. I was in the dark corner in the tip top of the stadium—the only one _not _screaming _or _standing.

My iwhat was now officially killing my ears with how loud I had it turned up, and yet I still could hear everyone yelling. This crap had been going on for 2 hours and I had been listening to music the entire time, trying to drown everyone out. It wasn't working.

I just wish I had charged it properly. It was about to die and I don't think I could stand another minute of that stupid football game without it.

"IF BAXTER MISSES THIS PASS, WE LOSE!" the kid screamed in my ear.

"…So?" I asked, placing my chin on my fuzzy hand, totally bored. "I don't know a thing about football and you actually think I give a shit about who wins and who loses. I don't even know what the hell is going on. What the heck is a quarterback—"

"GO!" he screamed, pumping his fits in the air and ignoring everything I had been saying. "RUN BAXTER! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!"

I looked down at the football field and saw Jake Baxter sprinting over toppled bodies with a ball in his hand. He dodged left and right as the opposite team tried to block his way.

The audience started screaming louder than I had ever heard yet. Everyone was stomping their feet and chanting like crazy.

I tugged at the kid's hand next to me.

"What the hell is happening?" I asked him impatiently.

I got no response. His eyes were glued to Jake as he made his way across field. As he neared the end, the crowd suddenly got deathly quiet.

"…Is it over?" I whispered, taking my earphones out.

Jake looked up at me, pointed in my direction and then chucked the football on the ground and danced like a maniac.

_...?_

The audience roared its' loudest and drained from the stands to the field like a wave crashing on the beach.

The who next to me started hysterically crying and attempted to hug me.

"Oh, _hell no_," I said, pushing him away with great force.

He leapt down from the bleachers, unswayed by my lack of spirit and ran to the rest of the crowd. He vanished from my sight and became one with the football idiots.

I was the only one sitting. Again.

"What a waste of my Saturday night," I muttered, crossing my arms in a huff.

Sighing, I looked at the amount of people crowding the area. There were way too many whos to push past to go home. It wasn't worth pushing through all the screams and chants people were still doing.

"Don't they realize it's over?" I asked, rolling my eyes. "They can stop their cheering any minute now."

Leaning against the backboard, I shut my eyes and curled up in a ball.

It's not like I had wanted to go to that stupid football game. I only went to try and keep up a friendship with Jake. I popped one eye open to see him still surrounded.

He wouldn't forget that I was there. I'd just have to wait for the crowd to die down. He'd see me for sure.

I closed my eyes once again.

Now, I'm sure you're all wondering why I had even bothered to waste my time at that stupid event. It was obvious: I was lonely. I was the new girl at Whoville High and I had practically no one to talk to.

My "best friend" Jamie still hadn't called me since I had come to Whoville and it sucked! I seriously needed to talk to her or at least someone to keep my sanity.

So I was stuck talking to a football jock hottie.

Not so bad, right?

I guess.

At least I could talk to him.

Besides, he gave me something to do with my Saturdays. I could just go to his games. It wasn't like I had anything else to do—

"Yo," a male voice said.

My eyes shot open to see Jake standing in front of me. Sweat dripped down his face as he stared at me.

"You didn't have to wait for me that long," he said.

I noticed that the crowd had disappeared. Janitors were already out, cleaning up the water bottles and Gatorwhos from the stands. Practically no one was there any more and the remnants of the school flag were everywhere.

How long had I been there…?

"That touch down," he said, smiling brightly, "That last one was dedicated to _you_."

"O-Oh?" I asked.

He leaned in closely to me, wrapped his arms around me in a hug, and whispered, "Thanks for coming."

It would have been somewhat romantic if he hadn't been sweating like a hog and if he didn't smell like a dying cow.

"Uh, yeah," I said, holding my breath. "No problem."

Jake slowly released, a huge smile slapped on his face as he held my shoulders.

"We won," he said.

"Yeah, the audience kind of made it obvious," I said, bluntly. "This kid next to me was just—"

"Baxter!" yelled a jock and a few cheerleaders from the field. "You want to come with us to eat out? Our treat!"

Jake looked back at me, and turned toward his friends.

"Only if Liz can come along!" he shouted, then he glanced at me, and asked, "Do you want to come?"

A "yes" was on the tip of my tongue as I looked at his pleading face. In the corner of my eyes I saw his friends snickering at me. My heart sank. They hated me.

"Nah," I said. "No thanks. I'd better get home soon. My mom and Dad won't be pleased with me coming home this late at night. I'll come next time."

Jake looked down for a moment before shrugging.

"You want me to walk you home?" he asked, "We can walk under the stars. Just the two of us. It'd be romantic..."

A blush appeared on my face but it was wiped away when I looked directly at his friends. They looked so…so sleazy and cruel.

"No, no thanks," I said, looking up at him. "Go enjoy the night. I'll see you Monday."

He smirked at me and lifted a sweaty hand to my face.

_Gross…_

"'kay then," Jake said, "I'll see you Monday. And I'll hold you to that, _Liz._"

He winked, turned on his heel and ran down to meet his friends.

As suddenly as he had appeared, he disappeared.

I was alone. Again.

I stood, shoving my iwhat in my bag. I slung it over my shoulder and made my way down to the field. Cheerleaders had left their pom-poms on the grass. Torn banners of, "Whoville High" were strewn everywhere.

I finally reached the wet ground, going away from the area as quickly as possible.

Sports were not my thing.

That game was not worth my time. Even if it was to keep up somewhat of a friendship with Jake

My feet hit the cement as I started down a street. Stars shimmering above in the sky were my light. It was obvious practically everyone in Whoville was sleeping—except the stupid football crowd.

Their cheers were very far off; in the direction I was headed.

I paused for a moment before turning on my heel, going the opposite direction. I wasn't about to go by those football freaks again. They were scary. Really scary.

I rounded a corner and that's when I saw it. There was a figure walking up a nearby hill toward the old Observatory.

"Who is that…?" I muttered.

Looking back toward the path I had to take to my house, I hesitantly started following the figure.

"I wonder..."

* * *

"How much more is this Who going to walk?" I muttered to myself, following the person from a distance.

I really had no idea why the heck I was following this guy. For all I knew this Who could be a pedophile or something.

And yet, I followed him or her relentlessly.

I tracked the figure down, running as quickly as my short legs could carry me (God I hated running) until finally, the figure stopped at the top of a cliff.

_What the hell is a cliff doing near Whoville…?_

The next thing I knew, the figure walked off the cliff and disappeared from my vision.

_Did he or she just…?_

My stomach lurched as I ran frantically to the edge of the cliff. To my relief, however, the figure was simply in a bucket making his or her way toward the other side by the Observatory.

_So he or she didn't kill themselves…_

I nearly screamed at the next thing I saw. The figure had gotten out of the bucket and was now launching himself or herself into the air with a large slingshot. It didn't look so sturdy and I felt my heart pound rapidly against my chest.

_They could die!_

I nearly screamed in protest, but he or she shot themselves up before I could do anything. I watch in horror as the figure flew up higher and higher…until it reached a point where it could not go any higher.

And then…it began to descend. I covered my mouth in horror and closed my eyes. I didn't want to see the end of another's life.

I waited to hear the screams of the figure as it came down. I waited a few moments, before I realized that it was not coming.

I slowly looked to see that the figure headed up the broken steps toward the old observatory and entered without a care in the world.

Within a moment, I started hearing music. Cymbals crashed and drums played. Violins sang and noises of all kinds erupted the second the figure had disappeared into the observatory.

My eyes widened as I looked at the bucket before me and the plummeting cliff just near my feet.

I had a choice to make.

Go through the deathtrap the figure had set up and try to find out who was making all the noise or go home _alive_ that night with a mystery still in my head.

I took a breath and took a step into the bucket.

_Good bye my life…_

Slowly but steadily I made my way to the observatory. Following the same steps the figure had used to get there.

I threw a rock on the big boulder, reached the other cliff with my body parts all in tact.

I had screamed when I had launched myself into the air with the slingshot. But I knew that it was worth all the scares I had gone through.

I was determined to find out who was making all that noise.

_I'm going to do this, _I thought, climbing the broken steps up to the small door framed by a huge one.

My fuzzy hand snatched the doorknob and twisted it.

The second it did, the music stopped.

I pushed open the door and was met with utter darkness.

"Hello…?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

**a) Sorry if the character offends people for using "emo" to describe Jojo**

**b) Sorry if Jojo is out of character**

**c) Sorry if the speaker of the story sounds Mary-suish**

**d) Sorry I took too long to update. I've been busy with vacation and had no internet access where I was.**

**e) Sorry if this chapter is too short for your liking**

"Hello…"

My voice reverberated through the pitch black observatory. I couldn't see anything it was so dark.

I waited in the quiet, black abyss, my heart beating faster than it had ever in my life. A part of me wished I hadn't followed that figure here. Who _knows _who that person could be!

_A murderer?_

"Hello?" I called again, taking a step back.

_A pedophile?_

The doors shut behind me suddenly. The click echoed. My heart stopped beating at that moment.

_A rapist?_

Thoughts of fear ran around in my head and panic took over me.

_Or maybe even—_

Cutting like a knife through my thoughts, someone hissed a soft, "Hello."

Startled, I held my arms in a defensive position.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hello…"

That voice felt like a whisper in my ear. Hot breath pressed itself on my neck and I turned around quickly.

No one was there.

"Who's here?" I shouted, my voice trembling in fear.

"Someone," the male voice responded.

"D-Do I know you?"

"...In a way."

"Do you go to my school?"

"Sometimes."

"What's your name?"

"_Silence_."

It echoed off of the walls, sending a chill down my spine.

"Who _are _you?"

"Whoever you want me to be."

"Come out from hiding!"

"I'm not hiding…I'm right in front of you."

I gasped and backed away.

_Curse this fucking dark! I can't see anything!_

"Why are you here?" he asked, quietly.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because," the male voice said casually, "This is my observatory."

"Yours? I heard it was abandoned."

"Apparently it's not. Now why are you here?"

"I saw a figure," I said, "So I tracked it down and this is where it led me."

"I see…Well, whatever. I don't care if you're here or not. Just don't touch anything."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is this—"

Lights shot on and it took a few moments for me to adjust. But once I had…

"Holy Who," I whispered, my eyes like saucers as I looked at the scene before me.

A colorful drum was against the far wall, bigger than anything I had seen in my life—and right near it some _smaller _drums stood, with colorful "tunnels" around them. Below, were huge timpani, with two large rubber band balls quite a few feet above.

I held back a gasp as I looked to the left, seeing saws with kites attached. They had iron violin bows against the smooth sides. Just to the right of that were a series of bells dangling over what looked to be a machine with trumpets out of the side. Nearby stood a big DNA strand with some balls in a basket above, ready to topple over at any second.

A spinning circle with glass bottles stood still with handles on the sides and next to that was saws with what looked like iron violin bows, attached to kites. Horns were attached everywhere, and I could tell with just one little touch of _one _invention would lead to a series of beautiful and strange music.

Pumps and colors were a blur in my vision as I gaped at it all. There were layers upon layers of different inventions having to do with music. I was simply speechless—until I heard the clang of a cymbal dropping.

"Where are you?" I called, slightly frightened.

"Hiding. Now do you see what I mean by don't touch anything?"

"Yeah…" I said, as the lights shut off again. "Wow…"

"What?"

"Did you invent everything here?" I asked, quietly.

"Yes," said the voice, footsteps moving around, keeping the whereabouts of the speaker hidden.

"_How?_"

"Collecting things around my house," the cranking of a wrench onto metal was heard, "—taking old, useless vases and umbrellas from my parents," a small drill squealed as a nail was pushed into something, "stealing broken hairbrushes and kites from my sisters," a hammer sounded off, "digging through garbage cans…you get the picture."

"You have sisters? How many?"

There was a small grunt and a sudden thud of something heavy hitting the ground.

"Ninety-six."

"_Ninety-six?_ How the hell did your parents manage that?"

Scratch of metal clashing.

"I don't know."

"Wow…So, _Silence, _is it?"

"Yeah."

Another drill.

"What are you going to call me?"

"Noisy."

"Haha, very funny. But unlike you, I'll actually _give _you my name—"

"I already know it, Liz."

"What?"

"We go to the same school, remember?"

"Right…so considering you basically invent random instruments, I take it you like music?"

"…"

"Stupid question. I know. Are you in choir at school?"

"Occasionally."

"How about band?"

"Rarely."

The scraping of materials met my ears.

"Alright," he said. "Let's see how this sounds."

The sound of a flute carried all through the observatory. It was a heavenly tune that caressed my ears gently.

"Beautiful," I whispered, closing my eyes to get the full sensation of the music.

It stopped.

"Does it sound good?" he called.

"Keep playing, please," I said. "It's wonderful."

The flute continued.

Memories clouded my head and I sat on the cold ground, Indian style. I placed my head in my hands and pulled gently at the blonde hair on my head.

"Mom gave me her flute when I was in like third grade," I said quietly. "And it wasn't brand new or anything—she gave me her crappy one from when she was in college. You know how long ago her college years were?"

He kept playing the flute.

"Anyway, I tried playing her flute," I continued. "And I went to band camp," I chuckled, "You know what they say about band camp…so as I was saying, I went to band camp, to learn how to play mom's flute. So I go there, and the band director gives me the simplest song in the world: Mary had a Little What. I had the fingerings down and everything. But because the flute was so old and the padding was all off, I couldn't play properly. I could barely get a note out. It was humiliating and everyone made fun of me. By the end of the first week of band camp, I had quit flute."

Regret filled my heart.

"I wish I hadn't stopped there," I said, wistfully.

The flute stopped again and everything was quiet.

"So," I said, awkwardly, "Are you the one who makes all that noise at night?"

"Noise?"

"Yeah, instruments, drums… some things I have never heard of in my life."

"Then yeah, I guess. You can hear it?"

"Duh," I said. "My ears are kind of sensitive, actually. I'm sure other Who's can hear it though. You have huge ass drums here—I'd be surprised if there wasn't at least one other person who could hear it."

"I can't help it," he said. "I like the noise.

"And you love music," I whispered.

"It's my life," he responded. "The only thing I have going for me."

"I know what you mean," I said. "There's nothing in this shithole of a town—no one to talk to."

"There are people to talk to," he responded. "There's just no one to _listen._"

I chuckled, but was interrupted by the chime from the town clock going off. Once…twice…thrice…

"It's three in the morning," said Silence slowly as the chiming ended.

"Oh shit!" I cursed, stomping my foot. "Mom is gonna kill me!"

"Didn't you sneak out of your house tonight?"

"No, no," I said. "I had been at the stupid football game."

"Cheering on Jake Baxter?"

"Not that it's any of your business," I said, "But yes. Now, I seriously have to go."

"Are you going to come back tomorrow night?"

I smirked.

"Do you want me back?"

"I was just curious…"

"Then I'll come back. See you—or rather, _hear _you tomorrow night at like 10. Okay?"

"Whatever."

I burst out of the door I had come in from and took the same route across to the other cliff.

I couldn't wait for the next night to come.

* * *

"Two mint chocolate chip, please," I said to the man.

Jojo stood aside, away from the little ice-cream stand, hands in his pockets and gazing elsewhere. He sighed and kicked a pebble near his furry foot.

I inwardly groaned.

This whole idea was a fucking disaster. I should had never invited him over to my house—we stayed there for like five seconds before bagging it and heading out to get some ice-cream together.

It probably would have been an okay time if Jojo had actually opened his mouth and spoken some words. But no. Of course not. He had to be the silent guy.

It left me to wonder to my thoughts about Silence. I hadn't told anyone about going to observatory. It was my secret and I intended to keep it that way.

"Thanks," I said as the man handed me our ice-cream. "Jojo, catch!"

I tossed one ice-cream over to Jojo who, without turning his head, caught it in his right hand instantly.

I rolled my eyes and walked over toward him.

"Show off…"

He looked over to me, took a lick of his ice-cream and shrugged.

"You're just cool like that, right?" I laughed, eating my own ice-cream. "I would've gotten you a different ice-cream if you had actually spoken up. But I guess you're stuck with my favorite flavor: mint chocolate chip."

He gave me an "I really don't care" look.

"Yeah, yeah, just eat your ice-cream," I muttered, smiling.

"Hey, cutie, fancy meeting you here," said someone, an arm wrapping around my shoulders and pulling me in close.

"Hi Jake," I said, trying to pull away.

His green eyes bore into my own. His grip tightened slightly.

"What are you doing here?" Jake asked. "Getting ice-cream? Mint chocolate…it's my favorite…"

Before I could complain he grabbed my hand holding the cone and took a chunk out of my ice-cream.

"Hey, that's my—"

"Delicious," he sighed, ignoring what I was saying. "But what are you doing out alone?"

"I'm not alone. I'm with Jojo."

Jake nearly spat up ice-cream at that comment. Jojo, who had been pretty expressionless through it all, suddenly gave me a look.

After a few seconds, Jake started to calm down and began to laugh.

"Right, Gogo!" he said, departing from me and walking over to Jojo. He gave him a hard slap on the back and a "man hug." "What's up Gogo?"

"It's _Jojo,_" I said, clenching my ice-cream cone hard.

"Um, yeah," Jake said, smiling. "So what's up Jojo? What are you and Liz doing together?"

There seemed to be hostility in the way that he was speaking. Jojo, picking up on this, gave him a glare and licked his ice-cream, not wanting to get into anything.

"Just hanging?" Jake asked, brushing away Jojo's silence. "That's cool…Well, I'm off to meet up with the boys. We're gonna play some ball. Wanna come Liz?"

"No thanks," I said.

"How about you, _Momo_?" Jake asked, leaning in close to Jojo mockingly. "Want to come meet the boys?"

"For the last time," I said, angrily. "His name is _Jojo!_"

I tightened my fist and my ice-cream exploded in my hand. A fleck landed on my cheek while the rest seeped out into the palm of my hand.

Everyone stared.

Jake started to laugh and approached me.

He stooped down to my eye level, coming real close to me. His hand reached for my cheek and he held my face to look directly into those green eyes of his.

"You know," he muttered. "You look really cute with ice-cream on you."

He took my hand and opened his mouth, about to lick it.

A napkin stopped his lips from touching my skin. Jojo stood there, staring at Jake directly, holding the napkin to my hand, preventing him from licking off the ice-cream.

"Thanks, Jojo," I said, awkwardly, taking the napkin and wiping away the stickiness from my fingers.

Jake, sending a glare Jojo's way, came up close to me again.

"You missed a spot."

His lips touched my cheek, tongue sweeping away the excess ice-cream on my face. Just as quickly as he had kissed me, he released and began to walk away.

"See you later, Liz," he said. "And don't let anyone else kiss that cheek."

A blush came over me and I looked down at the ground. If I had kept my gaze up, I would have seen the sadness in Jojo's eyes.

An ice-cream was shoved in front of me and I looked up to see Jojo holding it.

"What are you doing?"

He pointed to my hand that once held my own ice-cream and then pointed to me.

"You're giving this to me?"

He nodded.

"Jojo, I can't accept this."

Shaking his head, he brought it closer to me.

"…How about we split it?"

And that's how we found ourselves sitting at a nearby bench splitting ice-cream. He looked a little uneasy doing it, but once I got two spoons for the both of us he was a little less shy about the matter.

I mean, I get where he was coming from. He didn't want us to look like a couple…because we weren't. We _totally _weren't.

…

"You know what sucks about being the new kid?" I asked Jojo. "_Everything._ You come to a new town and you have no fucking friends! And the old ones don't _call _you at all like they fucking _promised _to."

He gave me a look of confusion and dug his spoon into the frozen treat. I sighed and laughed lightly.

"I make no sense to you," I said. "Probably because I'm not explaining anything. You ever feel like talking to someone and you don't want to explain everything—you just want someone to rant to?"

"…"

"Right, I forgot. You don't talk, let alone rant."

He shrugged.

"Ah, Jojo," I said, leaning back against the bench and looking into the blue sky. "The thing I like about you is that even though you're silent as hell, you sure are a damn good person to talk to."

"Yo! Jojo!" yelled a kid's voice.

I turned to see three of Jojo's rock friends on skateboards heading our way. They grinded on the rail of the town fountain and landed with an ollie. I felt uneasy as they skidded to a halt in front of us.

"Yo, man, Jojo, what's up?" asked one.

"Dude, dude, _dude,_" said another, waving his arms in a frantic manner. "We just came from the music store and guess what just got out."

Jojo cocked an eyebrow in curiosity.

"The whole collection of the Who's albums all in one! It's limited edition _and _has commentary from all the members!"

"We left to get money from home," said the third, a girl with a punk rock pink hair style, "And were on our way back when we saw you."

"Dude, you _have _to come with us!"

Jojo looked over at me and sighed. All three noticed my presence and exchanged looks.

Realization washed over me and I felt a pang of sadness from being unwanted as usual. I threw away the rest of the ice-cream and laughed uneasily.

"You can go if you want Jojo," I said, turning around. "It's fine with me."

"Hold it, girl," the pink rock chick said, grabbing my shoulder and turning me around so fast that I nearly fell over. She leaned on me, swinging her arm around my back and holding me close. "What do you say guys? Let her come with us?"

The guys looked at each other and shrugged.

"Whatever."

"Sure."

"…"

"Great," pink rock chick said, throwing her skateboard on the ground. "You'll be riding with me, girl. So get on the back and hold on tight."

I stared at her.

"What?" she asked, "We do this all the time. Look, watch Jojo."

I glanced over to see him getting behind one of his friends and holding onto his waist. He gave a look that said, "No homo." The other guy hopped on his skateboard and they zoomed off in an instant.

"Oi!" shouted the pink rock chick. "Dickheads! Wait for us!" She turned back to me. "Well? Coming or what?"

I smirked and hopped on behind her.

"Okay, here we go," she said, thrusting her foot to the ground and giving us speed.

The next thing I knew, wind was pushing against me so hard I felt like I was going to fall off.

"Hold on tight!" called the pink rock chick in front of me. "These are the new Who-skateboards—going fast as hell is what they're made for."

We zipped by pedestrians shopping at Whomart and Best Who. Nearly running over dogs and little kids, we skated faster and faster.

I held on as tight as I could.

"Um," came the pink rock chick's gasping voice. "Too…tight…"

"Oh," I said, loosening my grip. "Sorry!"

"No problem. So I hear you're into that Jake Baxter guy?"

"No," I said. "That's just a rumor going around school. He just likes to randomly talk to me."

"Sure," she said, turning onto another street. "That's why you went to his football game last night and he pointed right at you before he made the final touchdown."

I blushed.

"How'd you know about that?"

"School gossip vine," she replied casually. "It spreads fast. I'm betting that ice-cream incident already hit Jennifer Whogard in the ass. You know, the girl who dunks your head in the toilet all the time."

"Ice-cream incident?" I asked, nervously.

"Yeah, the one just today with Jake kissing your cheek. The guys and I all saw it on our way to get money from home. When we came back, Baxter was gone. I'm not surprised if a lot of other kids from our High school saw it too."

My whole face turned into a tomato.

"What was Jojo's reaction to it?" she asked, curiously.

"Huh?"

"Oh, look!" she said, excitedly. "We're _here!_"

She skidded to a halt, throwing me off the skateboard completely. I gasped, falling to the ground with a thud.

Pink rock chick laughed, holding out a hand and helping me up.

"I can see you have no grace."

That wasn't true. I took ballet for five years when I was in elementary school to middle school and I was perfectly fine with grace. But I wasn't about to tell some rock girl that.

"What took you so long, May?" asked one of the boys, standing near the main entrance of the music store.

"You fuckers took off without us," snapped 'May.' "Real gentlemanly—I'm sure Kayla would have approved of that."

"Kayla?" I asked her.

"Kyle's crush," she said. Realization came over her. "You don't know their names, do you! Okay, so," she pointed to the kid who had a crush on Kayla, "That's Kyle."

He was leaning against the entrance, his dark blue and black fur rubbing against the rough bricks.

"That creature over there is my boyfriend, Zach," she said, pointing to the kid standing next to Kyle. "You touch him and you die."

I laughed nervously.

"I'm serious."

My laughter stopped.

"I'm May," she said. "And last but not least, you already know Jojo. So that's our mini gang. We have tons of other rocker friends. I'm sure you've seen them at our cafeteria table. You can sit with us at lunch tomorrow—we'll introduce them all to you. And don't worry about fitting in. If anyone has a problem with you, they gotta deal with _me._"

For the first time I had been in Whoville, I felt like I belonged. May really seemed like the best friend I needed throughout my lonely experience through Whoville. I was so happy…

"Jojo!" whispered Kyle, looking through the window. "Dude! Your girlfriend is in the music store!"

And then it all came crashing down.


	6. Chapter 6

This was a disaster. No. It was worse than a disaster. It was a freaking tornado screwing up my emotions on top of some beast within me clawing at all of my organs and ripping them to shreds. Then there was some small Who played ping-pong with my stomach while a drummer bashed on my head with drumsticks. I felt so dizzy and sick from it all.

"Girlfriend?" I repeated, my heart dropping to the ground and cracking before me.

May rolled her eyes as Jojo rushed to the window, silently, his eyes widening and a blush appearing on his face when he saw the girl in the store. He sank to the ground and bit his lip.

Kyle and Zach exchanged looks before grinning and sitting down with him. They patted his back.

"Okay, dude, you can do it," they both said. "Take a deep breath, go into her section and just start talking about whatever comes to mind, okay?"

Jojo glared at them.

"Oh right, you don't talk…"

May slapped her forehead.

"God, boys are so stupid," she said, taking my hand and dragging me into the store.

The glass door rang as we opened it and a rush of cold air met me. An old man sat behind the counter, reading "Who Magazine." A few costumers were here and there, but all in all it was pretty barren. May dragged me to where the Who albums were kept, all the way in the back of the store.

"Is that really his girlfriend?" I asked her, hesitantly as I looked over to the pretty Who listening to music.

"Why do you want to…"

May cut off and looked at me. A blush came over my cheeks as realization hit her.

"Oh my God," she whispered. "Are you jealous? Are you actually interested in the mime?"

I paused. Now that I thought about it, that was the perfect way to describe Jojo. He had black and white fur and was always quiet, never speaking.

"Are you," May brought her voice down so low that not even an eavesdropping mouse could hear her, "jealous?"

"No way," I laughed nervously, "Jojo's not my type."

"Then who is?" she shot back. "A guy who is tall, muscular and has a football for a brain? Like, for example let's say…Jake Baxter?"

I sighed.

"Jake Baxter is just an acquaintance," I said, shrugging it off. "He just likes to randomly talk to me—"

"And flirt with you."

"And flirt with me..."

"And kiss you."

"And kiss m—Hey!"

"Girl," she said, placing a fuzzy hand on her hip and looking directly at me. "You gotta get your emotions straight. I had your situation a little while ago. I liked two boys at the same time."

"What'd you do about it?"

"I chose Zach, obviously," she said, laughing. "The other didn't feel quite right. He always did something that didn't feel like we were meant to be together. Every romantic moment there could be, he ruined it by something small that ticked me off. But whenever I was around Zach, everything just clicked, you know?"

"Yeah…"

"You ever have those moments with Jake or Jojo?"

I thought back to the football game, remembering that disgusting sweaty hug. Or all those times Jake put Jojo down. He still did. Those moments weren't good and they happened a lot.

But Jojo…he was just always there. Even though he was quiet, he was willing to listen. And that's really what I needed then.

I looked over to Jojo, my heart changed completely. At least that was until I saw him gawking at the girl through the window still. My heart broke all over again.

May sighed and muttered, "Stupid guy doesn't know what he's doing."

Biting my lower lip, I bowed my head to look at the floor.

May, who saw this, lifted my chin and wrapped an arm around me.

"That," she said, pointing at the girl with a disgusted look on her face. "That blob of a Who right there is Sandy Whomore—or as I like to say Sandy Whowhore—: the absolutely perfect bitch who every girl hates because she's a total fake. Jojo is being stupid and since he won't tell anyone how he feels, we're all assuming he has a crush on her. Sandy, however, ignored Jojo until she found out that he saved the world from total destruction. A.K.A. she's not really interested in him. She just wants the title of being the kid who saved our world's girlfriend. She's not Jojo's girlfriend. Kyle was just kidding."

Relief swept through me but the jealousy I felt still stung my heart.

Sandy sighed, pushing her green hair behind her shoulder and flipped through CD's. On her perfect little head were headphones. Her hips swayed to the music and she twirled her hair, mouthing the words to some random kind of looked like a fish in water, opening her lip-glossed mouth and closing it with a glazed stare at nothing in particular.

"She's so fucking plastic," gagged May. "She listens to country music—"

"Country's not so bad—"

"She can't fucking sing—"

"Neither can the majority of the choir at Whoville High, but hey, no one's perfect—"

"She hates classical, so Jojo seriously shouldn't be crushing on her—"

"Not everyone likes classical—"

"She doesn't have a good figure and her ass is huge—"

"Everyone's ass is huge, according to them at least—"

"And I seriously don't get why Kyle was checking her out!"

"Well, maybe—wait, what?"

"What's so great about her?" May said, glaring at the oblivious girl.

"What does Kyle checking her out have to do with anything?"

"I just felt like throwing it in there. One more reason to hate her, you know?"

"Um, okay…?"

"Anyway," May said, "You're a lot cooler than she could ever be. At least you don't gossip like she does. She's a real—oh, hi Sandy…"

I gasped, seeing Sandy suddenly in front of me. Her face was shoved up close to my own. All I could see were her beady little speckled pink and green eyes.

Her fur was neon green with pink stripes in between. The hair on top of her head was neon green and designed in pigtails. I had to admit, she looked cute.

"You're that new girl, Liz, right?" she asked, eyeing me.

"Yeah," I said, shrugging. "You're Sandy, right?"

"Yeah!" she said, enthusiastically.

I heard a groan from next to me. Shoving my arm into May's gut, I gave Sandy a fake smile.

"Like, oh my God," Sandy said, her eyes widening, "You and I should totally hang."

"Uh? Why?"

"Well, we have so much in common."

"Like what?"

"We're both in a music store!"

Insert awkward cricket chirps here.

May and I stared at her, at each other and then back to her.

"Um, is that all you want from me?" I asked her, turning to the Who's new albums. "Because I kind of want to listen to music in peace, no offense…"

"Oh!" Sandy said, backing away, "Sorry! I'll leave you alone now. It was great meeting you."

"Wish I could say the same to you," I said, smiling brightly.

"Huh?" she asked. It took her a few moments to get it. "OH! Haha! That's funny! You're cool. I like you. So, I'll see you around?"

"If you can find me."

Sandy ran off to a different section and I shook my head.

"Need a punching bag?" May asked.

She and I exchanged glances.

"Desperately."

"Let's buy this album and leave. We'll wait for the Three Stooges outside—once they actually come inside to buy the album, that is. They're so stupid, gawking over that good for nothing…"

We parted and started looking at different CD's. I kept picking up cases, looking at the back, seeing the songs and then putting them down. I couldn't find anything that really quenched my thirst for music.

Finding a CD that I knew I would like, I ran over to the nearest set of headphones, placed the case under the light and listened to it. I bobbed my head to the music, smiling the whole while. I swung my hips to it, not even caring when an old man passed by and checked me out (gross). I loved music so much. I didn't care what style, I just loved all the different chords there were and how predictable some music was.

Music was my safety place. Where I could just fly to the stars or swim in the deepest ocean. It was the one place I could escape everything and go to my own world where nothing bad could happen. Unless I wanted it to, of course.

I closed my eyes, relaxing after the stupid Sandy thing. I didn't get why I was so annoyed that Jojo had a crush. I mean, that's normal at our age. Everyone has crushes when they're teenagers—even the hormonal deficient ones.

I decided to shrug the matter away as I took off the headphones.

"May," I called over to her, "You see anything you like?"

She was currently hugging a case of Who music. She seemed creepily happy which kind of scared me. She was dancing around in circles on her toes as she squealed about love of the Who. Weirdest thing I had ever seen in my life. But hey, you know what they say. All girls are insane. May was definitely proof of it.

"Yes!" she said, drooling over the Who albums. "I'm in Who heaven! What about you? You see anything you like?"

"Not yet."

Suddenly, Sandy appeared.

"Hi, girls! What's up?"

"Still looking at music," I said, debating between two CD's I had listened to. "You?"

"Oh you know…listening to country music…"

I glanced over to see May's knuckles growing white from gripping the album tightly. She was pissed. Obviously.

I nearly laughed.

"So, um," she said, bashfully. "There have been rumors going around school about you…"

"Oh?" I asked, absentmindedly humming a tune. "Like what?"

"Like you and Jojo," she said, straightforwardly.

The second Sandy mentioned the name "Jojo," May shot her gaze over to us and sent a death glare toward her.

Sandy, nervous under her gaze, grabbed my arm and said cheerfully, "Can I borrow her for a second, May?"

"She's not a fucking object you can borrow," hissed May. "But whatever. Make it short."

"Thanks."

I was then shoved behind a series of CD's and albums in another section. Corners of CD cases pressed against my back and I winced. Sweet girl randomly going into a bitch mode…someone was clearly on their period or had a split personality.

Sandy pushed herself close against me and glared right in my eyes. Her furry little finger pressed itself against my chest.

"You listen hear, bitch," she whispered. "If I see you anywhere near my Jojo, you are dead."

Now, I don't like to be talked down to. I had been bullied in 9th grade and I had never let anyone talk to me like that since then—even if there were consequences. I didn't care if there was physical abuse like the stupid bullying I had at school. I never let anyone talk down to me.

"I'll be near him if I want to," I said, pushing her away. "It's none of your business. If you like him, then tell him instead of beating around the bush. It's great that you have a crush. But don't take your jealousy out on me, just because you happen to hear 'rumors.'"

I brushed her off and started to walk away. I had one more thing to say to her…

I paused and then turned back.

"And F.Y.I;" I said, "Rumors aren't always true. You shouldn't believe everything people say."

May, who had been hovering nearby, approached us. She grabbed my hand angrily and started heading out of the store.

"Where are you going?" Sandy called, faking innocence.

"That jerk," muttered May, "I heard the whole thing. She just wants to get close to Jojo…"

"Um, May?" I asked.

"She just wants him to buy her things and rip him away from his true friends…"

"May—"

"She's a bitch! That's what she is!"

"May!"

"What?"

I pointed back to the Who albums where Ms. Perfect stood, staring at us with a confused look on her pretty little face.

May's face flushed with annoyance.

The next thing I knew, all three of us were in line, waiting to purchase the Who album. Despite that stupid Sandy girl behind us, I found it pretty funny.

"I can't believe you nearly forgot to get the new Who album," I laughed. "Weren't you like, dying to buy it?"

"Shut up," May growled, shaking her head, stepping forward in line.

I kept laughing.

"So what's Jojo's favorite color?" Sandy pestered.

"Ugh," I said, rolling my eyes, "For the last time I don't know. Could you—oh, I don't know—get the heck out of my face?"

"What's Jojo's favorite thing to do?"

"Did you not hear me?"

"What does his bed smell like?"

"How the heck would I know—?"

"OH MY GOD!" she whispered, seeing something at the door. "Here he comes! Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God…"

She started waving her hands in front of her face, trying to calm herself down. I started to laugh. She looked like a bird flapping her wings like that. A very nervous and freaked out bird.

I turned around and looked past a few heads in the line to see Jojo with his three friends walking toward the Who album section.

He nervously looked at Sandy who calmed down the second he did so.

Here was the moment of truth as he past by her…

Oh gag me.

"H-Hi Jojo," she said, blushing madly. "You look nice today."

Jojo blushed madly and nodded quickly. Within two seconds he bolted toward the back of the store with his two guy friends in tow, hiding behind columns of music stacked everywhere.

My heart stopped beating and disappointment filled my chest. He really did have a crush on her?

May moved forward to buy her album and tried to rush the poor man behind the cash register. She wanted to get out of there just as much as I did.

"Oh my God," Sandy whispered to me. "He said hi to me! Does he ever say hi to you? I don't think so!"

"He didn't say anything—"

"But that's what he meant!" she gasped, "We shared a moment! Oh my God…I've got to tell the girls this…I think I'm going to faint…"

She whipped out her Who-phone and began texting like I had never seen before.

"Okay!" May said, placing her hand on my shoulder. "Let's get the fuck out of here."

We zipped out of the store and sat against the side wall, hiding from that Sandy bitch. This took major stress off of my shoulders. I didn't want to have to deal with that crazy girl anymore for the rest of the day. May took her phone out and told the boys inside to meet us outside when they were finished getting the album.

"You know," May said, hanging up the phone after calling the boys, "That punching bag is still ready and waiting for you if you want it."

"It's okay," I replied, sighing. "My pillow is waiting for me at home to beat the stuffing out of it. So I'm good."

"It's a stupid crush," May assured me. "Really. There's nothing special about her."

"As if I care," I said. "It's not like I have a crush on Jojo."

May stared.

"That is the biggest lie I have ever heard in my life," she said. "And it's written all over your cute face. You have a crush on him."

I looked down. No use denying it. She was the first girl I had been able to really talk to since I had gotten there. I wasn't going to pass up the chance to talk about this issue to another girl.

"It's that obvious?"

"When did you start to like him?"

"I don't know," I said, smiling. "A week ago I just thought of him as the stupid, emo kid who hung out with losers—no offense."

"None taken."

I shoved my head into my hands, yanking my hair slightly. Teenage life in high school was too stressful. Best four years of my life? Screw that.

"Now I'm so confused," I muttered. "I don't know my own feelings and it's so complicated."

"Yeah, I know," May said. "Jealousy brings out feelings faster. But it's not always a bad thing necessarily. Take it from the girl who has dealt with it before."

"Easy for you to say," I said. "You've got your boyfriend. I'm still single. Major difference."

I sighed and stood up.

"I'm going home," I said. "I'll see you around."

"I don't blame you. What do you want me to tell the guys?"

"I'm not feeling well. It's the truth."

And with that, I walked out of there and headed home.

* * *

"Silence," I sighed, leaning against the wall of the Observatory. "Today sucked."

"What happened?" called his voice as he fixed and prodded at his inventions.

"You know Jojo McDodd?"

"Yeah, I know him well."

"…Do you know Sandy Whowhore—I mean, Whomore?"

"Yeah…?"

I shook my head and stomped my feet in a childish manner.

"I hate her!" I said. "She's so fake, it's not even funny! And she tried to threaten me from seeing Jojo today in the music store! She shoved me against a bunch of CD's and tried to pressure me into not being friends with him just because she has a huge crush on him. God, as if I need another bully in my life…"

"So…Jojo is a…nuisance in your life?" Silence asked uncertainly. "He brought that bully into your life? D-Do you want him out of your life?"

"No," I said, quickly. "He's not a nuisance in my life. He's like the only person I can talk to—besides you and May."

"And Jake Baxter," said Silence, with a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"That's another reason today sucked!" I groaned in complaint. "Jake Baxter kissed me on the cheek!"

"I saw—h-heard. You didn't like him kissing you?"

"No!" I groaned. "It wasn't all that romantic crap everyone talks about. I've got all these crazy freak girls on my tail hounding me about Jake Baxter and now Jojo. Everyone except for May. You know, I don't even know her last name—but she's so cool. She hangs out with Jojo, has a boyfriend named Kyle, and has this hot pink rock chick hair…"

"I know her."

"Isn't she awesome? She's seriously the girl friend I needed to get back on my feet."

"I see…"

Cranking of metal.

"I didn't want him to kiss me," I said again. "The way he talked, 'Don't let anyone else kiss that cheek'— what the hell does that mean?"

"It means starting tomorrow, you're his girl," responded Silence, clearly disgusted with Jake. "Whether you like it or not, you are now officially labeled as his girlfriend."

"I'm single! I'm no one's girlfriend!"

"Try to tell the whole school that," Silence said. "I'm guessing your bullies won't be too happy with this bit of news."

My eyes widened and I groaned.

"Silence, today really sucks. I can't deal with all of this! They're gonna beat me up even more than they already have been!"

"Tomorrow is Monday, and everyone will be gossiping about the whole Jake Baxter fiasco."

"What am I supposed to do? Can I do anything about it?"

"I'm not sure."

"What if I pretended that I have a boyfriend back where I live?"

Silence snorted.

"As if anyone's going to believe that."

"…How about if I get Jojo to act like my boyfriend?"

"W-What?"

"No, never mind," I sighed. "Jojo wouldn't agree to that."

"…I wouldn't say that…"

"He's got a crush on that Sandy girl."

"I highly doubt it. And who told you that?"

"May."

"Don't believe everything you hear. As for your problem: act like it never happened. May invited you to sit at their lunch table, right?"

"Yeah…?"

"So instead of sitting with Jake every day, why not sit with May and all those guys?"

"So…if I sit with them, everything will go away?"

"Not immediately," he said, regretfully.

"Oh…"

"But if Jake Baxter is causing you to be in the center of all this gossip, then maybe you should get as far away from him as possible. It might help the situation."

"Hmm…that's pretty smart. I'll take your advice."

"We'll see."

"What about you? I've told you almost all of my issues and you've pretty much solved every single one of them. What can I do for you?"

"…You won't laugh?"

"Why would I laugh?" I asked. "You're one of the few people I can talk to without fearing you're going to turn on me and bully me like everyone else. I won't laugh."

"Okay…well I get in trouble a lot for thinking differently other than other people. When I write essays, my writing is 'too different' from everyone else's. Teachers keep calling my parents to tell them to make me think more similarly as everyone else. They don't want to, but the calls keep coming. And I doubt my dad's high reputation can hold much more of this from me."

"High reputation, huh?" I asked. "What, are you rich?"

"In a way."

"Hmm," I said. "Well, what types of thoughts do you have?"

"This observatory," Silence responded, excitedly, "This observatory is filled with my thoughts. Everything in here…they're all my thoughts, ideas…dreams."

"Dreams?" I asked, curiously.

"I want to be involved with music in some way," Silence whispered. "I want to invent instruments, to show everyone my ideas in the music world…"

"You know what?" I asked. "Those teachers are really stupid."

"Why? You don't think my ideas are strange?"

"No," I said, "God no. They're wonderful. Look at what you have invented so far! Everything here…it's amazing…anyone who wants to change you is obviously insane."

"You really think that?"

"If I didn't, would I have said it?" I asked. "You're amazing. You shouldn't ever let anyone tell you otherwise. Fuck them all. Whoever tells you that you should think the same as everyone else should go to an asylum."

"Do you ever think that there might be hidden secrets in music? Like the composer made a secret code through the notes?"

"All the time."

"Or that clashing chords are the best chords in music?"

"They're the most beautiful!" I said, excitedly. "They're so strange yet so interesting! I hate it when people think otherwise! Some people can't appreciate the musicality of clashing chords. They really should."

"You know," said the voice hesitantly, "Sometimes I feel like I'm a disappointment to my father. I'm just…so different from everyone else."

"I don't know much about your father," I said. "But…you're anything but a disappointment."

"He just doesn't understand that I don't want to be what he wants me to be when I'm older. I don't want to become…"

He broke off painfully.

"You should follow your dreams," I said, gently. "Don't let anyone control who you are."

"The problem with this town," said Silence. "Is that there aren't any people to listen. Ever since you came here…I found a reason to talk."

"You don't talk much?"

The town clock began to chime its annoying chime. I yawned a little, tired and my voice hurting from talking so much all at once.

"Four in the morning?" asked Silence, "Time really does go by fast. Well, I think we should go home now…"

"Yeah," I said, quietly. "We should…"

"I'll watch you as you go home," Silence said, "And I'll follow closely, just in case anything should happen."

"That's sweet," I said, standing, "But I think I'll be fine. This is Whoville. Nothing ever bad goes on around here. Seriously, what could happen?"


	7. Chapter 7

This wasn't high school anymore. This was _war._

"You are going to go out there and show them that you can handle all these rumors! You can't just sit aside and take all this crap from them! Is that lack of courage I see in your eyes? Straighten up, soldier! Attention! And we're marching in place! I don't see you marching! Left! Left! Left! Right! Left!"

I squinted my eyes and glared. Hands on my hips, I waggled my fuzzy finger in a commanding way.

"You're going to face _every single one of those gossiping freaks out there!_ And you're going to do it with pride! Just because Jake Baxter kissed you on the cheek does _not _mean that you're his girlfriend! In fact, you're going to go straight up to him and tell him off. He has no right to kiss you like that without your permission!

"And as for the bullies, I'll….um…I'll…I'll…"

"Sweetie, what are you shouting about in there?" Mom's voice came through the bathroom. "You should hurry up! You'll be late for school!"

I saw my face pale at the thought of school and I groaned at my reflection in the mirror.

"Mom," I fake coughed, "I'm not feeling so well…"

"You ate your breakfast this morning just fine," Mom said. "And you're shouting like a maniac in there. I don't believe a word you say. Now hurry up!"

Her heels clacked as she walked away.

"Forget you!" I muttered. "You got through high school alive…"

Looking up in the mirror, I felt horror strike in me. Thoughts of bullying entered my head. I pulled at my dirty blonde hair with my fuzzy gold fingers in stress and sighed. My hazel eyes filled with tears, smudging up my make up.

"Today," I muttered, reapplying mascara, "Is going to suck."

And indeed it did. By the end of third period I had been dunked head first in the toilet four times by that Jennifer Whogard girl and her stupid cronies.

When Whostory came around I was glad. It was one of the few classes I had with Jojo and I _needed _someone to talk to. Even if he was silent the whole time, it was still nice for him to listen.

I sat in my seat, praying to God Jojo was there that day. Students hovered nearby, whispering about the rumor of Jake Baxter and me. Jennifer and her girls were getting ready to pounce on me with hurtful words when suddenly that emo-tastic Who I was dying for came through the door.

Trumpets played a fanfare while drums beat loudly in celebration. Horns blasted in my ears and cymbals crashed before me. An angel in white and dark black fur with a depressed, dreary and apathetic look on his face dragged his feet toward my way. I wanted to get up and hug his slouched and misunderstood teenage body, but I kept myself from doing so. My heart swelled with happiness and I nearly fainted from happiness as he plopped down miserably next to me.

Tears formed in my eyes.

"…?" Jojo gave me a look as I hovered over him with a silly, hopeful smile slapped on.

He then noticed that I was soaking wet and turned to completely look at me. Concern was etched all over his face. His eyes travelled to cuts I had gained from the second dunking (because I refused, one girl broke out her fake nails and tried to scratch me to death. Those things actually _hurt_, believe it or not.)

"Jojo," I muttered. "Girls are bitches. You're _so _lucky you're a guy."

He sighed and looked around. Everyone was staring at us. Why wouldn't they? Rumors had been flying wildly about Jake Baxter and myself, and there was the little fact that I was totally wet from being slammed headfirst into the nasty public bathrooms at school. Rolling his eyes he looked back to me and shook his head.

"I don't know what to do, Jojo," I continued. "Whoville High just…just sucks…And I keep getting bullied no matter what I do! God…I miss Whatville so much…"

Mrs. Bumble suddenly burst in the room, carrying too many books for her hands alone again. Thus toppling over every little thing and letting all the things in her furry fingers fall to the ground.

Jojo kept glancing at me throughout the entire period. He was probably a little scared by my disheveled appearance. I'd been dunked in the toilet and looked like shit. What do you expect? Me to come out of the toilet looking like Miss Whoville? Give me a break!

A note was suddenly slipped in front of my face with boy hand writing on it.

_**Hey, are you okay?**_

I looked over to Jojo who was slouched back in his chair, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

Taking my pink pen, I wrote:

_Not really. Today freaking sucks._

I slid the note back to him.

He scribbled some words on it and then shoved it in my face.

_**Bullies as usual? You look soaked. Maybe you should go to the bathroom and dry off?**_

_The bathroom is the last place I want to be._

I looked up from the note as I passed it back to him. Realization washed over me. Jojo was actually talking to me—well, through a note, but still!

_**Oh, well, I'd ignore everyone if I were you. Rumors are rumors. They'll die down with time. But as for those bullies: maybe you should start wearing a raincoat to school…**_

I laughed, quickly covering my mouth so the teacher wouldn't hear. Jojo looked away, but I could almost see a smile on his face.

_Are you nuts? I'd be the freak who wears a raincoat every day to school on top of the new girl who has no friends._

_**You hit it off pretty well with May, right? That's one friend.**_

_Yeah, you're right._

The bell rang so suddenly that both Jojo and I jumped. Everyone began to leave, packing up their things and heading out the door. Jojo stood, slung his black backpack over his shoulder and started toward the door—our note crumpled in the palm of his tiny black hand. He hesitated before turning around to look at me.

I sat there, staring hopelessly at him.

Sighing, he came back over to me and stood there patiently, waiting for me to get up and leave with him.

Seeing his kind gesture, I smiled at him and said softly, "Thanks Jojo. You're the best."

He shrugged as though to say, "I know I am."

* * *

I was waiting in line to buy the gross lunches at school. I stood next to May. She batted her eyes a little, and twirled her bright pink hair with her skinny fingers. She moved her left hand to emphasize what she was saying. All I heard was, "Zach…Zach is so…you know? And Zach…Zach…" Yeah, she was obsessed, but can you blame her? Her boyfriend was drop dead sexy.

I shifted my gaze from her to the king of all emo kids sitting in a sea of emo friends. I took a few deep breaths.

Suddenly, the entire world didn't matter to me. All I was focused on was Jojo. My heart pounded against my chest, and my breath shortened. I felt hot all over my body.

Unfortunately, I was brought back to Whoville by May snapping her furry fingers in my face.

"Do you need a bucket to catch all of that drool?" she asked. My attention went back to her.

"Were you staring at Jojo?" she asked, smiling widely.

I laughed and moved forward in line. Shaking my head, I responded, "No, I was just thinking how scared I am to sit with you guys today. What if they don't like me? You sure this is okay?"

"Liz," May said, grabbing both my shoulders. "The second you sit with our gang, all this," she motioned to my wet body (Congratulations to me for making a new record of being dunked eight times before lunch—go me!); "will disappear instantly. You should hang with the rocker crowd. We back _every one _of us up. No one messes with us. You don't see any of us getting beaten up, do you?"

She was right. The only bullying I had seen were small snickers about Jojo. But there was no physical beating to speak of.

Without knowing, my gaze turned to Jojo. His black hair looked so scruffy and cute that day…

"Look," May said, following my stare, "Just go up to him, and say, 'I don't give a fuck what you think about that Sandy Whowhore—you are _so_ my boyfriend now.' Slap him in the face and then kiss him senseless. Do you want me to go with you for moral support?"

"NO!" I yelled. I glanced around, and noticed some of the other students staring at me. I cleared my throat and said softly to May, "I can't do that! It would completely ruin my reputation, and my self dignity."

"Liz!" May scolded me, "You've got no reputation! And _dignity?_"

"…"

We both looked at my still dripping wet body from being dunked in the toilet.

"Dignity my _ass!_"

I sighed and picked up a white, foamy school lunch tray. The smell of badly made food caught my nose, and I attempted not to breathe it in. Oh the joys of high school food.

"I mean, you want him!" she said, picking up a tray herself, and not dropping the topic. "And I know he wants you," she added.

I rolled my eyes, ignoring the annoying flutter in my heart.

Before I could reply, the dirty, old lunch lady said, in a crackling voice, "Fries?" I shook my head no, and selected a chicken Caesar wrap.

I moved to the cash register, and got out my money. I handed it to the cashier and moved to the left so May could pay. Once she had done this, she continued talking.

"How else are you going to get a boyfriend?" she asked, "Or go to the junior prom, for that matter?"

"Who needs a boyfriend?" I shot back, "I didn't think the junior prom would be your type of thing. And besides, the prom isn't for a little, I've got plenty of time to find a date."

"Eight _months_, to be exact, you little weirdo," she said. "And F.Y.I; my _mom _is forcing me to go, which means I'm _not _going to it alone with my boyfriend. I'll be like a fish out of water. You have to come—I promise we'll bag it and head for Whoville Point. It's the place for people who don't want to deal with stupid prom. Still, mom's making me go, and I need you to come with me. This means you need a date. Jojo would be _perfect._ He doesn't talk awkwardly since he never talks, he's not going to dance badly with you and you can just sit around with him and talk to the little mime. Besides, don't you _like _him like that?"

I paused for a moment. She had me there. No way was I going to admit to anything about Jojo, so the only thing I could do was dodge the question.

"And your point is…?" I asked, defensively. We walked away from the lunch line, and headed toward the rocker table.

"You're dancing around him like a lost puppy in love," she said. "You've got to talk to him."

"I talk to him," I shot back, defensively. "And anyway, I'm not even sure if I like him all that much!"

"Well decide soon, 'cause we're coming close to the rocker table," she said, shoving my face in the direction we were headed.

My heart began to pump loudly in my ears. Kids with Mohawks, piercings (not just in their ears), and gothic accessories leaned against the table. Some sat on top of it, chatting away about an old rock band.

"Yo!" May shouted, slamming her fist down on the table. Everyone there turned to look at us, silent and still. "This is Liz. She's one of us now. You got an issue with her and you got an issue with me. Got it? Good."

She grabbed my arm and dragged me to the center where Jojo, Kyle and Zach sat. Hanging near Kyle sat a girl with hot purple, short hair and purple and green fur stripes all over her body.

Kyle and Zach's eyes widened when they saw me.

"M-May," Zach said, looking me up and down. "She can't sit with us."

"Z-Zach," mocked May. "She can. And she is."

She put her hand on my shoulder and shoved me onto a seat across from Jojo.

"She's not like us," Kyle groaned.

"Aw, let her stay," the purple haired rock chick said, looking at me. "She looks so cute all soaked!"

"Um…thanks?" I asked, feeling a bit awkward.

"Jojo!" Kyle and Zach said, looking to him in between them. "Dude! She can't sit with us! Look at her! She's not rocker. It was bad enough that she came to the music store with us yesterday!"

Everyone at the table was quiet, staring right at the silent Jojo. Apparently his approval was necessary for any person to sit at that table.

Jojo, who had been chewing on a peanut butter sandwich, noticed everyone's stares and swallowed quickly. Everyone watched closely as he picked up a piece of chocolate from his lunch. Staring at it for a few moments, he looked up at me and swiftly placed it in front of me.

Silence.

And then—

Everyone at the table went back to their original conversations. Just like that, every gaze went away.

Had I missed something? Was that some sort of initiation into the group?

"Alright," Kyle and Zach said reluctantly, looking at each other. "If Jojo's fine with it…Then we are too. Welcome to the group…"

"I'm Kayla," the purple haired who said, taking my hand and shaking it firmly.

"Oh, so this is Kayla!" I said, smiling brightly.

"I hope May has been telling you good things about me," she said, giving May a glare.

"Nothing bad, I promise," I replied.

Kayla laughed and leaned back.

"And that girl over there," May said, pointing to a gothic in the corner that was making out with another gothic, "Is Frou-Frou and Lou-Lou. They're inseparable. Over there you'll see Mary-Lou, Lacy Who, Catty Kit, Lacy-Lit, Jamie, Amy, Freddie, Betty, Bobby, Dobby, Jake, Drake, and Gertrude."

"Gertrude?"

"Everyone calls her Gertty. Don't call her by her full name. She hates it."

"Oh," I said, blinking a few times. "You know, I won't remember everyone's names."

"That's fine," May said, shrugging. "I usually forget their names too."

Kayla smiled brightly and leaned into me.

"So this is the infamous Liz," she said, looking me up and down. "You seem cool. If you like music then you're on my good side."

"Love it so much it scares other people sometimes," I immediately responded. "Do you play an instrument?"

"Electric guitar," Kayla said, pretending to play on an air guitar. "You?"

"Clarinet and piano."

"Classical girl?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry to say."

"No way, that's chill," May said, sitting down beside me, across from Zach. "Classical is totally fine."

"What about you?" I asked May. "What do you play?"

"A little bit of bass…"

"She's being modest," snorted Zach. "She's the best bass I've ever heard."

"And we're not just talking about her voice here," joked Kyle.

"I don't sing that low!" May said, punching Kyle in the arm. "A stupid choir joke…just because I'm an alto two and can hit notes below yours does _not _mean that I'm a freaking bass!"

"You're an alto two?" I asked. "Wow…nice. I wish I could hit those notes."

"What about you?" Kayla shot. "Can you sing?"

"A little."

"What part?"

"Soprano two. I'm a mezzo soprano."

"Sweet."

"You?" I asked.

"Soprano one—with all the stupid divas."

"So you're both in choir?"

"Duh," May replied. "It's just an extra thing to keep us out of trouble though. Still, we make it fun."

I looked over to Jojo who nodded in agreement.

"You're in choir?" I asked him, raising my eyebrows. "You don't speak! How can you sing?"

He shrugged and continued eating his peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"_Where are you going?_" a loud girl's voice carried over the chaos of the lunchroom. "_What's so special about her?_"

A few small gasps and the dying of talking drew Jojo's attention. He looked over my head and, if it was possible, paled even more in the face.

"Oh great," muttered Kyle. "Look what _she _brought to the table…"

Zach groaned.

Kayla, May, and I all turned in slow motion to see who was coming. Our jaws dropped in unison.

"Hey, Liz. What's up?"

This was mortifying. Just absolutely mortifying. Jake Baxter had come to the rocker table just to talk to me. When I was actually getting some _friends_—he decides to waltz over and just ruin it all!

"Uh, hi?" I half said, half asked him. "Just chilling with my friends."

"And they are?" Jake asked, looking at Kayla and May.

"None of your business," May snapped, glaring at him.

Kayla however, had turned back around already and was looking at someone behind me.

"Liz," she muttered.

"May and Kayla," I said to Jake, not hearing Kayla. "It was nice talking to you, but I really need to, um, check on something—"

"_Liz!_" Kayla said loudly in my ear as I began to stand up.

The noise startled me, making me trip over the bench attached to the lunch table. I toppled over and slammed into Jake, who caught me with total ease.

His furry hands held tightly onto me, stabilizing me. Flashing a dashing smile my way, he asked casually, "Watch it, Shorty. You gotta be careful…"

"Uh, Liz?" Kayla and May asked in unison.

"Yeah?" I responded, backing away from Jake and turning to them. They were both pointing at someone across the table.

My eyes widened slightly, seeing Jojo, Kyle and Zach as livid as hell.

"You should take your boyfriend, and get out of here," Kyle snapped.

"He's not her boyfriend," May shot back, earning a backing off look from Kyle.

"Sure," snorted Zach.

"He's not!" I said.

Jake frowned at this.

Jojo got up, gaining the looks of every rocker at the table. He glared a hole past me and right through Jake's head.

Zach and Kyle, now seeing where his anger was directed, got up with him, backing him up.

"You gotta go," they said in unison.

Jojo, who didn't speak, folded his arms in agreement.

I wasn't sure if they were talking to me or Jake. I started to go away, when I felt May and Kayla pull me down to sit with them.

"We meant him," Zach snarled, eyes still glued on Jake. "He's a jock. We're rockers. We don't mix and mash. Ever."

Jake, smiling a toothy smile my way, held his hands up in surrender.

"No need to get hostile," he laughed. "I just wanted to talk to Liz for a second. I'm leaving now. Oh, and Liz, there's another football game Saturday night if you're interested—"

"She's not," May said, coldly.

"—you should come," he continued as if he didn't hear her. "Oh, here's my phone number," he slipped me a piece of paper, "So you can call me on my cell phone. And this time I'll hang with you after the football game. We can get some ice-cream. Mint chocolate chip, _your favorite_—"

A flashback of being kissed flashed in my mind. A blush spread across my face and I looked away in embarrassment.

Jake, seeing this, smirked and leaned in closer.

"Maybe I can do more than just kissing your cheek this time," he muttered.

Jojo had enough at that point. He leaned over the table and gave the meanest glare I had ever seen on his face to Jake. It was so harsh and cold that chills ran down my spine.

"Leave," Kyle and Zach said, scared of Jojo for the moment.

"Alright, I can see I'm not welcome here," Jake said, fake friendly. "Talk to you later, Liz!"

Jojo, so angry and annoyed, stormed out of the cafeteria within moments. Kyle and Zach looked at each other, a little confused.

"He's just angry that a jock came to our table," Zach concluded, uneasily. "That's all."

"Yeah," Kyle agreed. "He's just angry over that…"

May and Kayla exchanged looks and then put their hands on my back.

"You free Friday?" they asked in unison.

I nodded slowly.

They both grinned evilly.


	8. Chapter 8

Friday came too soon for my liking. Really it did. I should have made mom or dad stay home from their business trip that day. At least then I wouldn't have been tied to a chair against my will by my so-called "new friends."

"It's for your own good," Kayla said too happily as she tied the knot tighter.

May stood in front of me with a bag in her hand full of something I didn't know. Something in me told me I didn't want to find out.

"Okay!" Kayla shouted, bouncing up to her feet. "Okay! May, show her the surprise!"

"Surprise?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"We've decided to help you with Jojo," May said, mysteriously as she shoved the bag in front of my eyes.

"I don't _need _any help," I said. "I told you a million times: I don't like him like that."

Kayla and May cracked up.

"You are just _drowning_ in the river called 'denial!'" laughed May.

"When are you going to wake up and admit that you like him?" Kayla asked.

I sighed.

"Either way," May said, reaching into the bag, "We're going to help you whether you like it or not."

Her hand slowly pulled out something and held it up for me to see. My eyes widened.

"Is that…?"

"It is."

"Are you…?"

"We are."

I gulped.

_Heaven help me._

The next thing I knew, they had plucked my eyebrows, done my hair and were now slapping a bunch of make up on my face.

"Trust me," May said, confidently, "Kayla is _excellent _with make up and hair."

I raised my eyebrows and pouted my gloss covered lips.

"Hmm," Kayla said, applying eyeliner to my eyes, "Why do you have such big bags under your eyes all the time? Are you an insomniac or what?"

"No," I said, "I just…"

I thought for a moment.

"Say," I said, the wheels in my head turning. "Do you know that old observatory just out of town?"

Kayla's hand shook from the shock of what I said and accidentally drew the eyeliner across my cheek. She quickly grabbed a baby-wipe (ten times cheaper than any stupid make up remover and ten times better) and with a swipe, wiped away the mistake.

"Y-Yes," stuttered Kayla, jumpily looking at May. "Why?"

"Does anyone…I mean, do you know if anyone goes up there?" I asked.

May laughed nervously, waving her arms to encourage Kayla to force out some laughs. I stared in confusion.

"W-why do you ask that?" laughed May, fiddling with her hands.

"Just wondering," I responded quickly.

Something clicked in Kayla's mind and her eyes widened. She turned to May who also suddenly realized something. They looked at me and narrowed their eyes in wonder.

There was an awkward silence as they stared.

"So…" I said, breaking it.

"Right," Kayla said, snapping out of whatever thoughts she had, "Let's get this make up on you quickly! I can't wait to see your face when you see yourself in the mirror!"

"Yeah," I said nervously.

"You know," May said, smirking. "On Monday when Jake Baxter came to our table…Jojo wasn't mad about the fact that some random jock came to our rocker table."

"Oh?" I asked as Kayla applied mascara to my eyelashes.

"He was more upset over the fact that Jake was hitting on you," giggled Kayla.

"No way," I said, dismissing the idea. "Kyle and Zach said—"

"They weren't sure before," May said, smiling mischievously, "But yesterday, when I was talking to Zach, he said that Jojo's been acting funny."

"What do you mean?"

"Whenever Jake Baxter is nearby, Jojo tenses up and is ready to take him on, even though he's like twice his size!"

"Well yeah," I said. "Jake's kind of a jerk to him so he has every right to be angry with him—"

"And Jojo hasn't been staring at Sandy Whowhore as much anymore," Kayla piped in.

This caught my attention.

"Wait, what?"

"Actually," May whispered for dramatic effect, "Everyone's been noticing that he's staring at _you _more now."

My heart stopped beating for three whole seconds.

"That's not possible," I said, dismissing the idea instantly.

"It's possible," Kayla said. "And it's happening. He likes you. It's so obvious! God, it's written all over his mime face!"

Half of me wanted to believe them, the other half just wanted to have my doubts and be secure in the fact that it wasn't possible for Jojo McDodd to like anyone other than Sandy Whowhore—I mean, Whomore, let alone me.

…

Was it?

"Zach and Kyle are noticing he's a bit more distant now," May said. "And when you walk into the cafeteria he perks up and stares at you the whole time, totally ignoring everything and anything Zach and Kyle say!"

"You're shitting me. Get out!"

"For example," Kayla said. "Today, Kyle tested it out. When Jojo was staring at you, Zach said to him, 'I'm thinking of joining the soccer team, grow a mustache, be a transvestite, become a prostitute, have sex with a hotdog and dump May.' Which, of course, he'd never dump May, but the other stuff I'm not too sure of…"

May playfully punched Kayla in the arm.

"Point is," May said as Kayla rubbed the spot where she had been hit. "Jojo didn't even bat an eye at any of it. The dude is head over heels in love with you. And this will knock his socks off."

"He doesn't wear socks," Kayla said, stating the obvious. "None of us do."

"…You know what I mean!"

I rolled my eyes and didn't say anything.

In no time my make over was finished. May and Kayla simply stared at me in wonder, admiring their "masterpiece."

"What?" I asked, totally clueless.

Not one word from either of them, but they shoved a mirror in front of my face. I gasped.

Eyeliner brought out my hazel eyes while the mascara brought out my naturally long eyelashes. Blush had been brushed across my cheeks to bring out a brighter tone to my skin. My plucked eyebrows now made my face look softer, more feminine than before. Brown eye shadow was nicely blended to my eyelids.

I touched my now layered and highlighted hair with my fuzzy hands. My eyes widened in awe.

"This is me?" I asked, blinking my perfectly made up eyes in wonder.

"Yeah," May said.

"My God…" I said, "I look—"

"_AMAZING!_" screamed May and Kayla, jumping up and down. "Oh my _God!_ You've got to do this make up for school on Monday! Jojo will forget all about Sandy Whowhore in a second!"

"Wow," I whispered.

They quickly untied me from the chair and we embraced in a huge group hug.

"Thanks guys," I said, laughing and crying a bit. "This was so nice of you."

"Don't cry!" yelled Kayla, hitting me a few times over the head. "You'll mess up your make up!"

* * *

My eyes shot open as soon as I knew they were both asleep. I got up from the couch I was sleeping on and stepped over all the popcorn and pillows that had been tossed around that night.

I looked at the digital light in the kitchen attached to the sunroom. It was two thirty.

_He's got to still be there, right?_

I unlocked the back screen door, looked at the sleeping bodies of my two new best friends and quickly slipped out into the cold night.

If I had looked back a second time I would have seen them sit up and high five each other, now knowing all too well where I was going.

I ran as quickly as my little legs could carry me. I passed every house faster and faster, wanting to get to Silence as soon as possible.

Finally, I reached the observatory, going through all the little traps to get there. I burst through the door, out of breath and ready to collapse from exhaustion.

The lights were off.

"Silence?" I called. "Are you here?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

"Oh good," I sighed, laughing and sitting down.

"I thought you weren't coming tonight," he said, cranking a wrench to a screw. "Sleep over not going well?"

"No!" I said. "It's great! May and Kayla are just asleep now…"

"What'd you guys do tonight?"

"Well," I said, smiling. "We watched movies, talked about guys and they strapped me to a chair to give me a make over."

"Make over?"

"They redid my hair and everything."

"…Can I see?"

"It's dark, of course you can't see."

"Then let's change that," a spotlight shone down a few feet away from where I was standing. Just that light shone down, leaving room for one person to stand in. "Can I see now?"

I smiled nervously.

"I'm sure the make up is smeared," I said, uneasily. "And I probably messed it all up—"

"Please."

It was a plea, not a question. The tone in his voice made me agree even though my nerves and lack of self esteem were telling me not to.

"Okay."

I walked through the dark and stepped into the spotlight. My eyes squinted from so much light but soon adjusted. I could only see what was inside of the spotlight. Anything outside it was invisible to me.

"Wow," breathed Silence.

Footsteps echoed louder and louder, coming closer to me. They stopped.

"What?" I asked, blinking.

"You look beautiful," he whispered in awe.

I blushed and looked down.

"No, don't," he said. "Stare straight. I want to see your full face…Hold out your hand."

I held out my hand, still in the light.

"Put it in darkness…"

I nervously stepped forward and shoved half of my arm into the darkness. Another hand touched my own and I jumped in shock.

Electric waves of excitement moved throughout me. His fuzzy soft fingers weren't too big but enough to enclose his hand over my own and caress them with such tenderness I had never felt.

"You're in front of me," I said, stating the obvious to make it real to me. "Right in front of me? I can't see you though. That kind of sucks."

"You see me every day," he muttered, dropping my hand and letting it fall to my side to my disappointment.

"Do I?"

"Yeah," he said. "I'm in a few of your classes."

"Really?" I asked, smiling brightly. "You are? Which ones?"

"Homeroom," he responded. "Whostory and lunch."

"Can I look for you?"

"Yeah, but I doubt you'll find me. It'd seem pretty odd if you went up to random guys asking, 'Are you Silence?'"

"True."

"Well, tell me, who are you trying to impress with your new make over?"

I blushed and asked, quietly, "Can you turn off the light? This is embarrassing to do alone in the light."

"Sure."

Darkness swallowed me whole.

"I, um," I started, fiddling with my hands. "I haven't really told anyone straight out who I'm trying to impress. So you'll be the first person I really admit to. I hope you keep this secret."

"Who am I going to tell?" he asked. "I told you I don't talk much. I have nothing to gain from spilling your secret."

I laughed.

"Yeah," I said. "Um, well, there's this guy I like."

"Oh?"

"He goes to my school and—"

"Your age?"

"Yeah. He's really sweet and listens to me a lot. Similar to you, but I don't really get too many responses from him."

"Athletic?"

I laughed.

"Hardly."

"So it's not Jake Baxter."

"I'm just nice to Jake," I said. "He invades my personal space too much for me to be comfortable around him. But the guy I like is totally different from him."

"D-Does he talk much?" asked Silence, hope filled in his voice.

"He speaks in his own way," I replied.

"How so?"

"He uses body language and notes," I said, chuckling. "He always passes me a note in Whostory nowadays. And he always wonders if I'm okay nowadays, asking me about the bullying situation and whatnot. I think it's sweet of him."

"R-Really? You like that?"

"Yeah," I said. "He's the only guy who cares about me like that—except for you. And he is funny, actually. He like says things in his notes that make me laugh. Like, yesterday he wrote to me saying that Jennifer, the girl who likes to bully me, looks like a rat when she turns her head a certain way. When I looked at her the next time I saw her, I nearly died from laughter! I'll never look at her the same way again."

"So, you really like him?"

"Yeah," I said, smiling so widely that my cheek muscles were hurting. "He's just always there for me, even though he doesn't speak out loud. He's a sweet guy. I just wish he'd feel the same way for me."

"I'm sure whoever he is, he definitely feels the same way for you."

"But it's Jojo McDodd! He's like the king of rocker dudes at our high school in case you didn't know. So how could I ever impress him?"

"Trust me, you already do."

"I doubt it. And now I'm nervous about this new look. Do you think he'll like it?"

"He'll love it," Silence said, hoarsely.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, concerned. "You sound different. Are you catching a cold or something?"

"Nah, I'm fine," he coughed. "Just got something caught in my throat. You should probably head home it's almost five in the morning and you're probably exhausted from the sleep over."

"Yeah," I yawned, stretching. "I am, actually. I'll head home now."

"Okay," he responded. "I'll follow you in a little to make sure you get home safely."

"Alright," I said, smiling and walking out the door. "Good night, Silence."

"Good night, Liz."

And with that I shut the door and made my way home.

However, if I had stayed near the door for a moment more and pressed my ear against the wood, I would have heard him whisper in shock and happiness to himself:

"_She likes me."_


	9. Chapter 9

Again, I was at the football game. Why? Because a certain pompous who had decided to drop in on my house, drag myself _and _my company out the door and set us down on the stadium with a clear view of the field.

Needless to say I wasn't very happy with this situation. And neither was Jojo.

It had all started when I had been cleaning up the mess made at the sleep over the night before. May and Kayla were kind enough to leave a list of instructions on how to apply my make up so that it would come out perfect whenever I put it on.

Which is why when they both left that morning, I decided to shower and try it once for myself. The end result was me feeling and looking more gorgeous than the night before if it was even possible.

I picked up the bowl of popcorn and seeds, ready to dump it in the trash the second I walked into the kitchen when the doorbell rang at about 6 o'clock that evening.

"Just a moment!" I called, hoping that the visitor would hear.

Shoving the remains of the popcorn in the trash, I ran to the front door. I slung it open without a second thought.

"…"

My eyes widened.

Standing there with a look of surprise to see me looking like this stood the gray and black furred Who. His hands were in the depths of his pockets and his slouched posture from the days before was gone. His eyes looked away from my own, looking around nervously.

"J-Jojo," I said, trying to keep my head straight. "W-What brings you here?"

He didn't say anything.

"Want to come inside?" I asked him.

He nodded and quickly came in. I closed the door behind him with worry in the back of my mind. He was shaking all over and couldn't look at me directly.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, concern crawling in my skin. "Did something happen?"

He shook his head no, and his cheeks turned red.

Wait. Rewind to that last part. Was he _blushing?_

I looked away as realization hit me. Biting my lower lip, I tried to keep the tears from falling.

"Oh," I said quietly. "It's Sandy Whomore, isn't it?"

He looked at me incredulously and shook his head.

I didn't notice.

"Well," I said, faking a smile at him. "What is it? You two boyfriend and girlfriend now or something?"

Jojo looked as though he just swallowed a bug, totally disgusted at the idea of it.

Again, I didn't notice.

"Congratulations," I continued. "I'm really h-happy for the both of you and—"

Jojo waved his arms in an X formation, screaming silently in his head: "no, no, no!"

Finally, I noticed.

"Oh, that's not it?" I asked, hope washing throughout me. "Then what is?"

He turned totally red and looked around like a deer caught in headlights. Gulping largely, he opened his mouth to speak. Nothing came out.

"Are you…trying to speak?" I asked him.

He nodded and opened his mouth again.

I swear I could hear crickets chirping in the background.

"Maybe you should just show me what you're trying to say," I said sympathetically. "Like, charades, maybe?"

He nodded in agreement and held up one finger.

"First word is…"

He pointed to his eye.

"There's something wrong with your eye?"

X formation wave of the hands.

"No…eye…oh! _I!_"

He nodded.

"Oh, okay! I!"

Jojo held up two fingers.

"Second word."

He put his hand to his ear.

"Sounds like…"

He thought for a moment and then ran to the kitchen only to return with a flabby meat in his hand.

"Ham?" I asked him. "I ham…I ham…I am! I am?"

He nodded vigorously before putting his finger to his mouth and tossing the ham aside.

"I am…shush?" I asked him. "I am shush…"

X formation again.

"I am quiet?"

X formation.

"I am secretive!"

He began to become more into the X formation thing with his hands. Waving his arms and flailing them around, he urged me to go back to the answer before that.

"Okay, so it's similar to I am quiet."

He nodded.

"I am calm," I suggested.

X formation.

"I am hushed…"

He started to jump up and down, trying to get me to say another word. To my surprise (and secret delight) he tripped, slammed into me and we both came crashing to the floor.

I got a close up of his eyes that day. It was the first close up and most certainly not the last close up we had together.

My heart pounded in my ears as my hands were touching his arms that prevented him from being all the way on top of me.

He blinked innocently, unsure of what to do.

"Jojo," I muttered in a trance, raising my right hand to the cheek of his face. My furry brown fingers caressed his skin. "What's wrong?"

He just looked at me, a twinkle in his eye. His face began to come closer to my own and his eyes were locked on mine.

_Is he going to…?_

My heart pounded loudly against my chest. I was so sure Jojo could hear it too since we were so close together.

I gulped and closed my eyes. Excitement coursed through my veins quicker than a deadly poison as I waited for his lips to press against my own.

With only a centimeter away from kissing him, I felt my heart pound faster.

_This is perfect—_

Until the doorbell rang and Jojo leapt off of me as fast as a cat. I hid my disappointment as I got up from the ground and made my way to the door.

I should have pretended no one was home instead.

No sooner than I had opened the door, a fuzzy body slammed against my own, embracing me into a bone crushing hug.

"J-Jake," I stuttered.

"Wow," he whispered, taking my hand and kissing it. "You look…"

"…?"

"So _hot._"

I looked away and felt somewhat disappointed. There's a saying that played itself in the back of my head: "Don't go for the guy who calls you hot, go for the guy who calls you beautiful."

"Uh, thanks?" I said, smiling awkwardly and glancing back at Jojo.

Jojo didn't seem too happy about our third visitor.

"Ready to go to the football game?" Jake asked me. "You eat yet? No? I'll buy you a nice hotdog with fries when we get to the stadium!"

"E-Eh?" I asked, blinking as he dragged me out the door. "B-But—"

"Come on," Jake said, smiling brightly as he took me against my will, "Let's go or else I'll be late for warm up!"

"B-But—Jojo!"

"What?"

He turned around to see Jojo staring angrily at him from my front door. His fists were clenched and by his sides. His nose was scrunched up with his eyes in an intense manner.

"Oh…Hi, Bobo!"

"It's _Jojo!_" I seethed.

"Didn't see you there, bucko! What are you doing at Liz's? Say, you wanna come to the big game and see a _real _man play ball?"

Jojo just stayed silent. Crickets chirped.

"Well come on then! Let's go!"

And suddenly, Jojo and I found ourselves in the midst of football crazed fans, cheering and screaming their heads off without shame.

I was so tempted to just crawl into a dark hole and stay there forever. Jojo was annoyed and horrified at all the jocks surrounding us. I bet he hated me…

I glanced over to him. He looked extremely depressed with his body slouched and his gaze downward.

Everyone screamed loudly as Jake scored a touchdown. Jojo sighed and leaned back.

I felt bad. Jake had dragged him there only because he had been with me. Jojo was nice enough not to ditch me at this point…

I wasn't going to abuse that kindness.

"Say, Jojo," I said, looking up at the setting sky. "Let's sneak out before it gets too late, 'kay?"

Jojo looked at me, his brow furrowed in concern, but he nodded nonetheless.

I stood and held out my hand, a smile on my face.

"Let's go, Jojo," I said.

I was surprised he could hear me over the screams of the fans, but he nodded back again in response.

Taking my hand, he gave a small, short smile in return.

My heart instantly felt lighter than it had before.

* * *

"You liked the game?" asked Jake, leaning against my locker. I raised my eyebrows at him as I searched for my Whostory binder.

"Uh, yeah," I said, calmly. "It was great."

"I didn't see you afterward," he said, frowning.

I laughed nervously, and avoided his gaze.

"Jojo and I tried looking for you," I lied, "But because of the crowd, we couldn't find you."

"Oh," Jake said, nodding, accepting that excuse. "Yeah, that's understandable. You got home alright that night?"

I felt myself blush in the memory of that night…

After the game, Jojo and I had walked to Whoville peak together in silence. The wind had been chilling and the grass was wet with dew already. A silver moon hung in the air with stars splattered along the silky black sheet of sky.

"Jojo," I said, blushing. "There's…something I want to tell you…"

He cocked his head to the side in confusion as I gulped nervously.

_This is it,_ I told myself. _I'm going to tell him._

"Jojo," I said again.

I stopped myself as I looked at his pale skin and dark eyes that portrayed a hidden emotion I couldn't describe. His soft black hair blew gently as a breeze swept by us.

"Jojo," I whispered, my heart pounding in my ears.

Overwhelmed with emotions I paused once again.

And then it happened.

Shooting stars streamed across the sky one by one above us. The meteor shower was a sight to see. It was so beautiful, it captured our attention instantly.

Jojo leaned back, lying in the grass with his hands behind his head, staring into the deep abyss.

I didn't look to the stars. I saw them through his eyes.

And then it hit me.

_I want to know more about him…_

The desire hit me so strong. I wanted to know his likes, his dislikes, his past, his future—his present.

"Jojo," I said, quietly, leaning back next to him. "I want to get to know you."

I saw his eyes widen slowly and then return to normal.

"I want to know you."

Judging from his small smile and quick glance my way with touched eyes, I figured that had been the first time someone actually wanted to get to _know_ him.

And then I was brought back to the hallway with Jake as he snapped his fingers in front of my face.

"Earth to Liz," he said impatiently. "You got home okay that night?"

A small smile played on my lips as I picked out my binder, put it in my black bag and slammed my locker shut.

"Yeah," I said over my shoulder, walking away from him, "You could say that."

Jake tilted his head to the side and stood there for a moment before chasing after me.

"You're different from other girls," he said, smirking as he skidding in front of me, "And I like it that way…"

I looked at him strangely. A different glint was in his eye as he stared hungrily at me.

"Well," I said, uncomfortably under his gaze, "I'd better go to Whostory…"

He grabbed my hand and pulled me close to him. I blinked a few times before I actually realized what was happening.

"Why are you trying to avoid me?" he muttered, feeling my left cheek with his hand before he slammed his lips on mine.

I froze.

My heart stopped beating as I felt him wrap his arms around me and lean into the kiss.

Eyes wide open and mouth agape, I tried to back away. Jake just used this to his advantage. He shoved his tongue in my mouth and deepened the kiss.

_No, _I thought, struggling. _I don't want this._

I ripped myself away from him and wiped my lips clean of his saliva.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly, avoiding his gaze and looking at the ground. "I'm not interested."

I saw Jake crestfallen at first, and then the glint was back in his eyes.

"Because you're interested in _him?_" growled Jake, pointing a finger behind me.

I turned to look around.

Jojo stood there, crushed and broken in his eyes, but furious on the outside. His fists were clenched and he ground his teeth, seething.

"Jojo," I said, softly.

I felt an arm sling around me. Jake turned my chin to face him with his furry fingers. He grinned.

"Yo, McDodd," he called to the angry Who, "She's _mine._"

Before I could protest his lips were on mine again.

_That's it._

As soon as I was about to wrench myself away from the football jock, a hand grabbed my own and pulled me away into another pair of arms.

These ones were softer, gentler and more caressing than Jake's. They were also black and gray.

I fell forward but was caught by my 'savior.' I looked up to see Jojo holding me tightly and glaring straight at Jake.

No words were exchanged between the two.

Jojo set me straight and held tightly onto my hand as he guided me to Whostory. His eyes were narrow and he had a frightening atmosphere about him.

We walked into Whostory and sat down. I didn't say a word as I plopped into my chair.

Sitting there quietly, he didn't look at me. I saw in the corner of my eye that his fists clenched in his lap.

_What a mess you've gotten yourself into, Liz,_ I inwardly groaned. _Way to go, you genius…_

The next thing I did was an act of my body's, not mine. My hand grabbed his left one and held tightly.

Jojo, shocked, looked up at me. I smiled gently and kept holding onto his hand. I felt the tension ease away and he returned my gesture.

We remained hand locked under the desks for the whole period and when we walked out in the hallway together after it.

No one noticed the happy blushes on our cheeks.

No one, that is, except Sandy Whomore…


	10. Chapter 10

I sat in choir practice just staring at Jojo. It was the first time I had actually bothered to show up since that crazy music teacher lady attacked me, forcing me into choir. And, according to other students, the first time Jojo had really showed up too.

Odd coincidence, right? I think not.

I sat in the soprano two section in the far back, behind the section leader who had her back straight and her nose in the air like she was the most important person in the world.

Hey, you never know—maybe she _was _the most important person in the world. _Her _world, I mean.

"You're new," she said, turning around, glaring at me.

"Uh," I said, slouched over and looking at her with a raised eyebrow, "Yeah. I guess."

She looked me up and down before she actually smiled. A big, bright, fake smile. Bleh.

"I'm Rosy Whobody!" she said, "I'm the section leader of the soprano twos! Are you a soprano two? Do you know what that is?"

I grit my teeth and rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, I know what a soprano two is."

"Good, good," Rosy said, nodding. "Okay, do you know what a piano is?"

_Oh, God, not one of these people…_

"Yeah," I said, casually.

"It's that instrument you play with your fingers. With the little black and white keys. Do you know what keys are?"

I held back a laugh. She was a total idiot when it came to music.

"Yeah, I think they're the little buttons you press on a computer keyboard, right?"

She laughed and shook her head.

"No, _silly,_" she said, slapping my knee with her hand.

_Don't touch me you fake._

"They're the buttons you press on the piano!" she said, brightly.

I couldn't take much more of it.

Just to piss her off, I asked, "So, what type of soprano are you?"

"A soprano two, you _silly._"

_I'll shove "silly" right up your ass!_

"Yeah," I said, brushing off her answer. "But _what type?_"

She tilted her head to the side and blinked a few times.

"Excuse me?"

"You know," I said, trying not to laugh, "Lyrical, coloratura, soubrette, spinto, dramatic…? Surely you know."

She looked at me like I had come from another universe. Others around us, seeing her shocked face, turned to look at me.

"Right," I said slowly, demeaning her. "Well, I'm a coloratura mezzo soprano. Look it up. If not, you should talk to your vocal teacher—I'm assuming you take lessons? I mean, a musician of your status obviously takes vocal lessons."

"O-Of course!" she stuttered, her eyes darting around, challenging anyone to question her answer.

I snorted.

"Talk to your vocal teacher about it," I said, "If she or he is any good, they'll tell you exactly what type you are. And a piano is not just an instrument you play with your fingers; it's a musical instrument that has steel strings inside of it that are played by felt covered hammers when you hit the keys. Lastly," at this point, Rosy's face was so red she actually fit her name, "The next time you try to outwit me in my favorite subject: music, know a bit more information before you butt heads with me."

Her jaw was dropped and she was attempting to form words. She failed miserably and looked similar to a goldfish in a bowl.

"You know, it's rude to have your mouth hanging open like that," I said, bored with Rosy already.

"How _dare _you!" she complained. "I'm going to talk to Mrs. Muse!"

In that moment, the said teacher walked in with a pile of music in her hands. She smiled brightly at the students.

Rosy shot a smirk my way before shooting her hand in the air. Mrs. Muse, seeing it, smiled brightly.

"Why, thank you, Rosy!" she said, "Thanks for volunteering to help me pass out music!"

I let out the laughter I had been keeping in.

Rosy, trying to get Mrs. Muse's attention again, started to say, "Mrs. Muse! The new girl is—"

Mrs. Muse shoved the music in the annoying girl's hands and said, "You're right! I forgot to introduce Liz! Thanks for reminding me."

I was dying from laughter at this point.

"Everyone!" she said, clapping her hands. "This is Liz McGurtle! She's new to our choir, but a really talented singer! Please be nice to her!"

A few kids snorted.

I was one of them.

Nice? Yeah right, the only nice people there were probably the rocker kids I met at lunch. I looked over to my right to see May waving her hand mad crazy at me.

I smiled a big, fake smile and waved enthusiastically back before rolling my eyes and leaning against my chair.

"Today we have a special treat," said Mrs. Muse. "One of our students," with that she shot a quick look toward the men's section and then back toward the rest of the choir, "Has composed a piece for us to sing. They remain anonymous under the name given on the music."

"Why wouldn't they want the credit?" asked a kid. "If I composed a piece, I'd want everyone to know."

Rosy had already passed out large piles toward the ends of the rows and the music made its way down to me.

_My Muse _by Sai Lance.

I raised my eyebrows at the title.

_My Muse, eh?_

"Liz," said Mrs. Muse, suddenly. "You'll be singing the duet."

"Okay," I said, casually.

It took a moment for me to process what she actually said.

"Wait—_what?_" practically everyone, including myself yelled.

"I think it'd be a good experience for you," Mrs. Muse said. "Besides, we're singing this at the Whocentenial…yes, kids, there is going to be another one since our last scheduled one was cancelled due to the incident with our world nearly being destroyed and all…I think it would be nice if someone new to our town sang it."

I looked over to Rosy whatever her face was who was seething and biting down hard on her lip.

"Oh," I said, softly, flipping through the music, feeling kind of bad for Rosy.

"Let's sight read through this everybody!" Mrs. Muse exclaimed, jumping up and down. "On your furry little feet people!"

In unison, we groaned.

That was one hell of a long rehearsal with an overly peppy teacher.

However, despite the long rehearsal, May, Kayla, Zach, Kyle and Jojo practically attacked me. Well, the guys kind of just stood there and watched as the girls bombarded me with shouts of, "Way to get the duet without even auditioning, you lucky bitch!"

I still was shocked over the fact that Jojo would actually show up to choir (he didn't seem like the type to be interested in that stuff), but I got myself out of it the second he left the room.

Of course, I didn't make it so obvious that I was crushing over him while he was standing there, waiting for May and Kayla to stop hugging me and screaming, looking oh so cute in his slouched over, "I couldn't care less" position of his. And I really didn't drool over his adorable black hair that was slightly messy. And his cute little eyes didn't suck me into a whirlwind of romance.

...

Okay, maybe they did a little. But only a little! I swear!

"You're so lucky," groaned Kayla. "You'd better do that solo justice."

"Say," May said, eyeing me. "I've never heard you sing before."

I blushed as I picked up my book bag.

It was true. They had never heard me sing before. Even during the choir rehearsal, Mrs. Muse didn't let me sing the solo just yet. She wanted to get the harmonies down for the choir before she started letting me sing on top of them.

"Yeah, well," I said, "You're not gonna. I'm telling Mrs. Muse that I can't sing by myself. I'm not doing the solo."

"What?!" May, Kayla, Zach and Kyle shouted. "Why!"

"Don't you think it's weird that I got the solo without even auditioning?" I asked. "I think it's a little unfair, don't you?"

Everyone looked to Jojo who had clenched fists. I raised my eyebrows.

"What's wrong?" I asked everyone.

"N-Nothing," said Kayla as Kyle and Zach muttered something to Jojo. "But, Mrs. Muse said that it would be a good experience, so I think you should..."

"Yeah, well, no one here has heard me sing—for all you know, I could be the worst singer in the world," I said, uneasily. "Besides...I..."

Jojo, at this point, was shaking extremely badly.

"I might screw up," I muttered. "The piece is too beautiful to mess up."

Everyone stopped breathing at that moment.

And then laughter erupted.

"That's _all_ you're scared about?" laughed Zach.

"Listen," said Kyle, eyeing Jojo who had now calmed himself and was standing as though he had not just been on the verge of a mental breakdown. "You'll do fine. God, that's all you're worried about? You're an idiot!"

I laughed, scratching the back of my head.

"I get freaked out when I know I'm singing something that I consider to be beautiful," I said, softly.

"Bitch, please," snorted May. "You sound passionate about music. Give it your all and you'll do fine."

I smiled and nodded, happy with the support I was getting from my new friends. Acceptance and willingness to help me. I guess that's all I could have asked for at that point.

"Good to know you feel that way," said a soothing voice from behind me.

I hadn't even realized that Mrs. Muse was behind me and I instantly blushed in embarrassment.

"Yeah, well," I said, casually, covering up my humiliation. "It shouldn't be that hard. I was just exaggerating."

"Liar," laughed Kayla. "You're scared shitless!"

Mrs. Muse rolled her eyes and looked to everyone around me.

"Mind if I borrow her for a while?"

They exchanged looks and scattered like crazy.

The next thing I knew, Mrs. Muse was making me go over the solo with her, one on one to make sure I would get it perfectly.

"_In the silence and in the dark,_" Mrs. Muse sang as she played. "_There's something that keeps tugging at my heart. I keep humming a sweet little melody, waiting for someone to finish it for me. But I know, yes I know, I wait in the silence hopelessly but still I want you to find me._"

"_I'm getting closer to finding you with each passing day,_" I sang, "_But you gotta help me find my way. Let me be your muse—your light to guide you in the dark, to fill the void in your empty heart._"

"And then you two sing together," Mrs. Muse said before singing along with me, "_You are my muse, my music, my everything. For you, my muse, I would do anything. Wish you could see: you are my muse, the music in me._"

I stood there, listening to the last chords of the piano ring out.

Suddenly, Mrs. Muse's foot came off the pedal. She stopped her playing and looked over at my smiling face.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" she asked, laughing at the stars in my eyes.

"Yeah," I said, nodding in agreement.

"But Liz," she said, slowly. "Think about the lyrics a bit more. Who are you singing to?"

"Hmm," I hummed, looking over the words. "Probably someone I care deeply for."

"Think a little further than that."

"My lover?"

"A lover who is your inspiration and you are his," she said, waving her arms around to emphasize her point. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

_Not technically, _I thought, a flash of Jojo's face crossing my mind.

"No," I said, madly blushing.

"How about a crush?" she asked, winking at me.

"Kind of."

"Oh, ho, ho," she chuckled, slapping my shoulder. "Lucky boy, lucky boy, whoever he is. Think of him as you sing this song. Now, from the top..."

I sang for her, but my thoughts wandered to Jojo. I really did want to get to know him better. He seemed to think deeper than a lot of the boys I knew. Although, he was so quiet.

_I would love to hear his voice one day...Just for once I'd like to hear him say my name..._

"Excellent!" screeched Mrs. Muse at the top of her lungs.

I jumped slightly, coming back to Whoville from the dreamland world called my thoughts.

"Well," she said, shuffling the papers around on the piano. "Any questions?"

"Yeah," I muttered, looking down at the sheet of music in my hand. "Who's singing the duet with me?"

Mrs. Muse winked my way and pressed her index finger to her lips.

"I think I want Jojo to sing the duet with you."

I blushed madly.

_Jojo? _I thought, my cheeks a brilliant red at that point. _Really…? But…_

I looked over the music, thinking about singing a duet with him.

"You said someone from choir composed this?" I suddenly asked, my eyes flitting down to the composer's name: _Sai Lance._

"Yes," Mrs. Muse said. "Unfortunately the brilliant young who wants to remain unknown."

"Sai Lance," I said out loud, slowly, "Sai Lance…_Whoa!_"

My eyes widened and Mrs. Muse's smile grew.

"You notice something, Liz?" she asked.

"I-I've got to go!" I said, running out the door as fast as I could on my little legs to the Observatory.

Mrs. Muse, however, stayed in the music room, laughing to herself.

"Ah, young love," she sighed, leaning back against the chair she was sitting in. "My, what a good catch you've got, Jojo!"

* * *

It was dusk now, the sun setting calmly in the sky. Pink bursts of light danced along the growing black and hints of yellow mixed with purple.

I stood in the observatory's darkness alone with nothing but my book bag to protect me from anything that might harm me.

"You wrote a song," I said, quietly.

I waited a few moments.

"Yeah, I did," Silence's voice rang through the observatory.

"You're in choir," I said, slowly.

"I already told you that," he said, chuckling.

"Yeah, I knew it, but you wrote a freaking song?" I asked, astonished.

"What?" asked Silence, uneasily. "You don't like it?"

"No, it's absolutely gorgeous," I said, blushing. "But…you actually wrote a song for the school choir to sing?"

"You sound surprised," Silence said, cranking something and drilling it into place.

"Well yeah," I said, as though stating the obvious. "I didn't know you composed too."

He was quiet for a moment.

"Who is Mrs. Muse picking to sing the duet with you?"

"I think she wants Jojo."

A cymbal crashed.

"W-What?"

"Yeah, she's picking Jojo for the male portion. Why?"

"N-Nothing…nothing…Just hoping a shy guy like him can handle singing in front of all those people…"

"I'm sure he'll do fine."

"Somehow, I doubt it…"

"What?"

"Nothing."


	11. Chapter 11

I was horrified.

Really. I was.

I had just been enjoying the first few minutes of freedom from school with Kayla and May. We were going to chill that night, watch a movie, talk about guys and listen to music our parents would scold us for later.

And then we had to see that shit hole of a mess in the hallway.

"Say _what?_" screeched May.

"Oh no she_ isn't!_" screamed Kayla.

"Oh, but she is," I said, staring with my eyes wide as saucers at what we were seeing.

Sandy Whomore, bitch extraordinaire, was hitting on Jojo McDodd.

She was leaning against the lockers, blushing like crazy as she talked to the seemingly bored Jojo. She smiled, laughed and hit his arm lightly at something she was babbling on about.

"Jojo!" her shrill voice screeched down the hallway, "You're _so _cute!"

"Hold me back," said Kayla, her purple eyes glaring daggers. "'Cause that girl is about to get her _ass _kicked!"

"Girl, what is wrong with you!" May yelled at me, pointing to Jojo. "She's fucking stealing your man! Aren't you going to do anything about it?"

I rolled my eyes, squishing any jealousy I had out of my system. It wasn't my place to get all pissed at some Sandy Whowhore flirting with Jojo.

"It's not like I'm his girlfriend," I said, casually. "Anyway, what were you guys saying?"

They looked at each other hesitantly before continuing with our earlier conversation.

"Well," Kayla said, slowly. "We were wondering if you'd like to be in a band."

I raised my eyebrows.

"A band?" I asked, skeptically.

"Yeah," May said, smirking. "You, Kayla, Zach, Kyle, Jojo and me."

"May does bass, Zach does drums, Jojo plays piano and Kyle and I do electric guitar."

"What could I do?" I asked, uneasily.

"Vocals," May and Kayla said in unison.

"I don't know," I muttered hesitantly as I watched Sandy hug Jojo in the corner of my eye. Her lips pressed against his cheek and I flushed in anger.

_He's not my boyfriend…he's not my boyfriend…I shouldn't care._

"Forget the bitch," said May, slinging her arm around my shoulders. "You've got his heart, babe. And he's got yours."

I snorted and turned away, fearing that other people might hear her and spread nasty rumors.

"Why would you think such a thing? I don't have a crush on Jojo McDodd."

"I'd hope not," said a voice in my ear.

I suddenly felt arms wrap themselves around me and the scent of too much Axe filled my nostrils.

"J-Jake," I stuttered, trying to pull away. "What are you doing?"

"Yeah," snapped Kayla, "What the fuck _are _you doing?"

Jake chuckled in my ear.

"Relax, relax," he said, giving me a squeeze before letting me go. "Can't a friend give another friend a hug?"

"No," May and Kayla said bluntly.

"I'm hurt," Jake said, faking tears. "Anyway, I just dropped by to ask if you'd like to come hang with me for a little, Liz."

"She's _not _interested," growled May.

"I wasn't asking you," Jake said, smirking at her. "What do you say, Liz? It's a Friday and it'd be just us two…"

I looked hesitantly back to Jojo who was now being dragged off somewhere by Sandy.

"I'd love to," I said, instantly and looking back to him.

Jake's eyes lit up and May and Kayla grimaced at each other.

"But," I continued, looking to the ground. "I promised my friends I'd hang with them today."

"How about tomorrow?" he asked.

"Can't," I said, shaking my head. "I have to work with Jojo on our Whostory project. Maybe some other time?"

And with that I walked past him with May and Kayla who were happy as clams. They hugged their books like psycho maniacs and twirled around me.

"You did the right thing," May said, walking by my side. "I doubt that Jojo could handle another jealousy fit on your behalf."

"Yeah, well, whatever," I said, hurting on the inside. "We already made plans tonight. I wasn't about to back out on you two for some guy."

The truth was that I really did want to hang with Jake. I just knew that if we hung out, I'd do something I would regret later.

"That Jake Baxter guy has some real nerve," growled Kayla, her lips pouting prettily as she glared straight forward. "Asking you out like that…"

"Cut the guy some slack," I said, casually, laughing lightly. "So what if he has a crush on me?"

"He's trying to steal you from Jojo," snapped May. "If you didn't like Jojo and if Jojo didn't like you, then we wouldn't have much of an issue with it. But come on! We have to do something! We don't want to see you or Jojo heartbroken!"

I sighed.

"Despite what you two think," I said, "Jojo and I aren't exactly a 'thing.'"

"Yes you are!" they both yelled. "Everyone freaking knows it!"

"Sure," I sighed. "He doesn't even like me like that…"

"Did he say otherwise?" demanded Kayla.

"No…"

"Then he likes you!" they laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, well," I said, trying to switch the topic. "About the band thing…I don't think so."

"Dude, we need you!" Kayla groaned. "And besides, Jojo needs someone to sing actual lyrics to his songs."

"Wait," I said, raising my eyebrows. "Jojo writes music?"

Kayla and May froze.

"Uh, yeah?" May half-asked, half said, "Why?"

My brow furrowed. That reminded me of something.

"No, it's nothing," I said, blinking a few times in thought. "Just…Never mind. So, you guys need a vocalist? You've never heard me sing before as I've stated several times."

"You really think everyone left the other day after choir practice?" snorted Kayla.

I blushed madly, knowing what she was implying.

"We stood outside and listened," laughed May. "You've got a great voice. Even Jojo thinks so, and he's really hard to please with that stuff. You should join our band. It's not like anything major—no competitions or anything. We just do it for the heck of it. A bunch of musicians slung together and making shitty music. What do you say?"

She held out her hand to shake my own and waited patiently.

I bit my lower lip and thought.

_Well, it does sound fun…_

"Alright," I said, grabbing her hand and shaking it. "Count me in."

I should have realized then that something was up as the two grinned mischievously at each other.

* * *

There I was, facing the door to the McDodd home, all by my lonesome that Saturday morning.

The note Jojo and I had written the day before was crinkled in my hand.

_I'm so bored, _I wrote, _why do we even have Whostory?_

_**It's just another way for them to torture us, **_Jojo wrote back.

_Ugh, this is so stupid. Ew, Jennifer what's-her-face is glaring at me again. I can just feel her eyes drilling a hole in the back of my head._

_**The girl who started the whole bullying junk? I thought she stopped that.**_

_She did, thank God, but she still hates me because of the whole Jake Baxter thing._

_**I haven't heard from him lately. He leaving you alone or something?**_

_I don't know what's going on with him, but yeah, he hasn't really attacked me much lately._

_**Good…**_

_Why?_

_**No reason. You wanna be my partner?**_

_What?_

_**The Whostory project Mrs. Bumble is babbling about. She just told us to get into pairs. Wanna be my partner?**_

_Sure. Gross, she just said it's kind of long term. We can meet outside of school to make it easier. My house or yours?_

_**I think it'd be bad at my house with ninety-six sisters...**_

_Ninety-six sisters? How did your parents manage that?_

…_**I don't know and I don't want to know.**_

_True. But I think meeting your sisters would be awesome. I want to count them and see if you __do__ actually have ninety-six sisters. So your house. Definitely your house. Tomorrow._

_**You sure?**_

_I'm so sure._

I looked up from the note and gulped. My hand was shaking nervously as I brought my index finger to the doorbell. Biting my lower lip, I began to think about just running away.

It hadn't seemed like a big deal when Jojo had agreed to let me come over his house at the time. But facing his front door and about to press the doorbell, I just froze.

My heart pounded in my ears as my index finger trembled before the doorbell.

Gulping once more, I closed my eyes and rang the doorbell.

Silence.

I popped one eye open, thinking I was safe and maybe the whole ninety-six sisters horror story was a lie, until—

"JOJO'S GIRLFRIEND IS HERE!" screamed little girls' voices.

The door was shoved open wide and I was dragged in against my will. I clung to the doorway with all the strength I had as they tried to yank me in, but I held tight. It wasn't enough.

They pulled me in with a final tug and I ended up falling onto the floor not so gracefully.

"OH MY GOD!" they screamed. "JOJO'S GIRLFRIEND!"

A blur of pink, blue and purple bows flashed before my eyes as little Who girls attacked me with questions, clinging to me the whole time.

"Are you and Jojo gonna get _married?_" asked one, her brown eyes blinking up at me innocently.

"Will you live with us when you get married?" asked another.

I crawled back, leaning against the blue wall, frightened of all the little girls. Who knew they could be so scary? Was I that scary when I was their age?

A sigh emitted from the opposite end of the room. My head shot up and I swore I heard trumpets blasting in the background.

Hallelujah Chorus was playing its loudest as I stared at him.

"Jojo!" I called.

He eyed the sea of his little sisters and sighed again.

"Ahem," he coughed, lightly.

Instantly the girls detached themselves from me and backed away. It was like an army, looking at them as they stood shyly away from me, opposite of the screaming girls beforehand.

"How the heck did you do that?" I asked, as I walked over to him, brushing away any dirt that might have gotten on my fur.

He shrugged.

"Practice?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Jojo," whined a few of the girls. "I want to talk to your girlfriend!"

He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"But why! Jojo!"

He glanced at me and then back to his ninety-six sisters. He rolled his eyes and shoved his hands deep into his furry little pockets.

"Come on guys," said one girl. "This is the first girl Jojo's brought home. Let's just introduce ourselves and get out of the way—"

"I'm Henrietta!" one girl shouted.

"I'm Lucille!"

"I'm Holly!"

"Molly!"

"Lucy!"

A slew of names was tossed my way and I did all I could to catch them with my ears. However, after hearing ninety-six of their names, I could only memorize three or four.

They were now getting all hyped up again and were tugging my arms out of their sockets.

Jojo coughed again, and the girls scattered away.

I laughed as the last of them sprinted up the staircase to who-knows-where.

"So," I said, turning to Jojo. "Our project is on the history of Mayors of Whoville, right?"

He rolled his eyes and slouched.

"Ah, Jojo!" said a voice, suddenly.

Mr. McDodd came out of nowhere, clamping Jojo on the shoulder and looking my way.

"I see you've become good _friends _with Liz McGurtle?" he asked, winking at me.

"Yeah," I said, smiling, totally not getting his hint. "We're working on our Whostory project."

"I see," Mr. McDodd replied, "Well, I wanted to let you to know that I am perfectly fine with your being 'friends.'"

I gave Jojo an odd look before glancing back at Mr. McDodd.

"However," he said, pointing his finger in the air and holding his hand to his heart, "As Jojo's father I feel that it is important to inform you kids of the dangers before you two dive straight into adulthood. Let's sit down and have a nice _chat_ about the birds and the bees_…_"

Jojo's eyes widened and he bolted away from his dad, grabbed my hand and sprinted down the hallway, dragging me along.

"J-Jojo!" I stuttered. "Where are we going?"

Before I could protest, I was shoved into what seemed to be a basement—a very _dark _basement.

I tripped, bringing Jojo down with me.

We were tumbling down, and down, further still into the dark until I landed on Jojo's soft body. My head jolted forward as soon as I fell on top of him and I accidentally slammed my lips onto his.

…

_We just kissed!_

I scrambled onto my feet as best I could, but with the darkness and everything being hard to see, I fell back down on top of Jojo.

I heard his breath catch and our hearts pounded against each other. A tingling sensation was on my lips from brushing them against his earlier and my hands were shaking like crazy.

"J-Jojo?" I asked, blushing madly and thanking God for the dark at that point in time. "Jojo, I didn't mean to k-k—well, do that. It was dark and, um and—"

I quickly rolled off of him and heard him get up. He walked back up the creaking stairs. How he could see in the darkness was a mystery to me. His hand jiggled the knob on the door.

Locked.

Great, we were stuck down there. And for who knows how long.

"So," I said, deciding to make the best of the situation. "Want to hear my life story?"

I could feel his exasperated look in the dark.


	12. Chapter 12

**...I'm guessing you know the drill by now. Oh, sorry for the long wait guys. I've been busy and suddenly got writer's block. This chapter is a little rough, but I promise it really helped me get the juices in my brain flowing so my updates should be a bit more frequent. Thank you to all my reviewers! I really do appreciate them all!**

"So I kicked the bully in the ass and made Lulu my friend that day," I said. "She was my only friend…and then I moved here, and, well, you know the rest of the story."

Jojo looked at me with a cocked eyebrow as though saying, "You finished yet?"

Grinning sheepishly, I scratched the back of my head. The only reason I had been talking that much to Jojo was because I was trying to get my thoughts off of the whole "kissing" thing. Normally I didn't talk so much as the average girl.

Yet there I was, talking to him like there was no tomorrow about nothing in particular, trying like hell to avoid my thoughts from wandering…

My face was a deep shade of red as I sat there, staring at Jojo. My furry little fingers kept rubbing over my lips, still tingling from the kiss.

_Jake's kisses have never felt that good, _I thought to myself. _And he keeps doing it over and over again…Jojo, on the other hand…one kiss with him and I'm acting like a child on Christmas day!_

Swallowing to moisten my throat, I coughed and gained his attention.

"How long do you think we've been down here?" I asked, Jojo for the sixteenth time.

All I got was silence.

I sighed and moved to a bit more of a comfortable position on the bucket I was sitting on.

I could hear rain pouring outside. The weatherwho had predicted that it would be stormy that day and only get worse as the day went on into night.

The floor was becoming wet from the rain outside. My eyes had adjusted to the little bit of light we had down there and I could actually see what was down in that yucky old basement. A few rats skittered here and there and boxes upon boxes were stacked around us.

He tapped his foot in a steady rhythm as he stared off into space.

_This is it,_ I thought, biting my lower lip in determination. _I have to tell him here. This is perfect. No interruptions, nothing to stop me. Here goes nothing._

"Jojo," I said, quietly. "You…"

His foot stopped tapping as his eyes looked up to meet my own.

The words I wanted to say died at my lips.

"I-I," I stammered, never feeling so nervous in my life. "I…uh…you…"

I was speaking jibber jabber and digging myself into a huge hole of embarrassment.

Jojo looked at me, his head tilted and his eyebrows raised, waiting for me to spit whatever I had to say out.

_Did you feel anything when we kissed?_

"You feel…?"

_I like you a lot Jojo. Be my boyfriend?_

"M-My…"

_What if he rejects me?_

This little thought of doubt took over and I sighed in annoyance with myself.

"Never mind, Jojo," I muttered, looking down at my hands.

A large thunderclap struck outside.

My eyes widened and the next thing I knew I was in Jojo's arms, shivering and shaking like a leaf in autumn. I buried my head into his chest and tears streamed down my face.

"I-I'm sorry," I murmured, laughing lightly as I tried to pull myself away from him. "I'm scared of thunder."

Another crack came from outside and I was, once again, shoving myself as close as possible to Jojo for comfort.

Flashes of my lonely childhood played themselves before my eyes. My memories always haunted me in storms.

I could feel his chest moving up and down as he breathed. His heartbeat pounded against me.

_Lub dub…lub dub dub…lub dub…_

I smiled lightly, my eyes closed as I pushed myself further against him.

The cracking of thunder met my ears and I whimpered.

"I'm sorry," I muttered, burying myself into him for a second. "I'm pathetic."

I slowly detached myself from him and dragged myself to the far corner of the room. I sat on a box and curled myself into a ball.

"I'll be fine in a little," I half-laughed, half-sobbed. "I'll be just fine—"

Shaking uncontrollably, I let my past nightmares flash before my eyes.

_"You're so pathetic," Amy Lee What had said in first grade, chucking one last rock at my back. "Can't even stand up for yourself."_

_"You're a loser," Jennifer said. "Stupid new kid…"_

I felt someone grab hold of me and draw me close.

"J-Jojo?" I asked, feeling something wet on my face.

I was crying.

Through the darkness I saw his eyes filled with concern. A frown was on his face as he looked at me.

I trembled.

Boom.

I threw myself against him again.

"I'm tired of being alone, Jojo," I muttered. "I'm tired of building walls around myself to shut other people out. When I hear thunder I just remember staying at home alone while my parents went out to all their parties, leaving me alone without a baby-sitter or anything. I was tough. I was their only child—surely they raised me well enough to fend for myself alone…so I shut myself away constantly. I'd hide under my bed, with a flashlight in my hand to protect me from all the scary monsters."

I laughed a mocking laugh.

"They left everything to me," I said. "I was supposed to always be mature and do things on my own. Independence. No one really understood me. No one knew I was all alone. So I shut everything out."

He held me tightly. It was as if he understood.

On second thought, maybe he did. He was always the school reject, he never talked to anyone—never let anyone know about him, his issues…

He never even talked to Zach and Kyle. They seemed to be his closest friends. But he never opened up to anyone; never ever let anyone in that fuzzy head of his.

It was then that I understood that he was just as alone as I was—if not more.

"Why don't you ever talk?" I murmured.

Silence.

"Is it that you don't have anything to say?"

Silence.

"Are you scared that no one will listen?"

He shuffled uncomfortably.

"So that's it," I said, quietly. "No one will listen to you?"

A strike of lightening hit once once, I wasn't scared.

"Jojo," I muttered, looking into those dark eyes of his, "I'm always here to listen to you."

It felt right. I was ready.

"You know," I said, chuckling lightly and blushing madly, noticing that his arms were still wrapped around me in a tight hug, "Jojo, at first I hated Whoville. I didn't like you at all."

His breath caught.

"But then I started to get to know you," I said, "And the more I hung around you, the more I wanted to get to know you. I guess you have that kind of effect on me. But, recently, I've come to a realization about you…"

I swallowed and pulled away.

_Here comes the rejection,_ I thought, my heart pounding three times as fast.

"You're funny," I started. "You're charming. You're sweet. You're…different."

Jojo's hands fell to his sides as he stared at me.

I felt tears trailing down my cheeks again. He was going to reject me. I knew it.

"I-I," I stammered, swallowing. What was wrong with my voice? I could just say it, get the rejection over with…

Why was I hesitating again?

"I like you."

_Was that my voice?_

My gaze shot up to meet Jojo's. His mouth hung open in slight shock.

_Oh God…What have I done?_

And then the door at the top of the staircase opened, revealing a tiny girl.

"Jojo?" she called. "Are you down here with your girlfriend?"

Without saying a word, like always, he walked toward the staircase, paused, looked back at me, and waited.

I nearly cried then and there.

"Yeah, I'm coming," I said, quietly, walking behind him.

I followed him up the stairs and didn't say a word.

I had said enough and had gotten my heart broken.

* * *

"You did _what?_" screeched May over the Who phone.

"I confessed," I said, my heart cracking all over again.

"Oh damn, and what did he say?"

I pulled my legs close to me and hugged myself. It had been hours since I had gotten home from the McDodd's. Needless to say when I had gotten home I locked myself in my room and cried my eyes out. It's _hard _to face rejection.

"He's _Jojo McDodd,_" I said sarcastically as I blinked back the tears. "What do you _think_ he said?"

"Oh, damn, Liz," May said. "He didn't say anything? At _all?_"

"We went upstairs and worked on the Whostory project for the rest of the day," I explained. "I felt like shooting myself then and there."

"God, he didn't say _anything…_how are you? You doin' okay?"

"Define 'okay.'"

"That bad, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Well," May sighed as I leaned against my pillow and looked out my window. It was a clear night with the moon shining high in the sky. "Maybe he didn't know what to say?"

"Sure," I said, biting my lower lip. "He could've said _anything _and I would've been happy. But now…I feel like I totally screwed everything up."

"I'm sorry," May said. "You know what you need? Girls' day out. That's what you need. Tomorrow. You, me, and Kayla are all goin' out."

"Where?"

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about that. It's a surprise. Throw on some nice slacks and a t-shirt and you'll be fine. Promise me you'll be ready by nine o'clock in the morning?"

"Yeah, sure," I responded, eager to get out and spend some time with friends.

"Look," May said, sighing, "Jojo's got a good reason for not responding. We all know he's got this huge ass crush on you. Otherwise he would've kicked you out the first night you went to the ob—"

"CRASH!"

The sound of a cymbal rang through the air, cutting May off. We were both quiet for a moment.

"You heard that, right?" I asked, smirking.

"…Heard what?" May said, her voice aloof.

I rolled my eyes. It was about that time of night anyway.

"I've got to go," I said. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, 'kay?"

"Nine o'clock sharp," May reminded me. "I'll drag you out of bed if I have to."

I chuckled.

"Sure. Night."

"Night."

I hung up and grinned. I double-checked that my door was locked and shoved some pillows under my sheets to make it look like me. I slid open my window and hopped out.

"Let's pay a visit to Silence…"


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"He didn't say anything?"

I sat on a small drum and sighed. I had replayed the horrible confession scene for Silence over and over so he could help me analyze each and every bit of it.

"Nope," I said. "Nothing at all. We just went upstairs and worked on our Whostory project the rest of the day."

"Maybe he didn't know what to say at the time," Silence said, cranking a screw in place and accidentally dropping a cymbal.

I winced as it rolled along the floor. Poor instrument…

"Heh," he chuckled, his feet pattering along the ground as he chased after it, "Sorry."

I shook my head and looked up. Silence had opened the top of the observatory so we could see the stars above. It gave a bit of light, but not enough light to actually see his face.

The crescent moon frowned down at me, as if mocking my misery. How stupid was I to confess to Jojo about me liking him? I felt like the biggest idiot in the world.

"Or," Silence continued with his previous statement, "He's waiting for the right moment."

"Right moment?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow up and snorting at the thought. "As if. He didn't say _anything _after I confessed. He was probably just thinking of how much of an idiot I was."

"No one thinks you're an idiot," Silence said. "I doubt Jojo knows how to deal with girls…especially one like you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well," he said, hesitantly. "You're different."

"I'm different alright," I said, rolling my eyes. "I don't fit in anywhere. That's probably why Jojo doesn't want me."

"What are you talking about?" Silence asked, his voice showing shock. "Not fitting in? You have friends now, right?"

"Yeah, but, still," I sighed. "I just don't feel like I truly belong. You ever feel like that?"

"Yeah," Silence said, slowly. "More often than I'd like."

"I just thought," I said, sighing, "I just thought that Jojo was the one person who was accepting me for who I am. That maybe I could find my place in Whoville with him. And instead, I totally blew it. He probably will avoid me at all costs at school."

I traced the stars in the sky with my index finger and found the big dipper.

"Maybe I should just date Jake Baxter. You know, give him a chance."

"That lame ass jock?" Silence asked, disgustedly.

"It'd just be one date," I said in Jake's defense, "Besides it's not like Jojo is going to be with me any time soon…"

"You don't know that," Silence said, "Just wait a little."

I rolled my eyes and harrumphed.

"Well, while I wait, can I help you build anything?"

Silence paused.

"Can you see anything in this darkness?"

"No."

"There's your answer."

"You suck."

"Yeah, I know."

I sighed and glanced back up at the stars.

"Just wait, Liz," Silence said, trying to comfort me.

_Yeah,_ I thought, biting my lower lip, _but for how long?_

* * *

"Why are we here?" I asked, my eyes glaring holes at the back of Sandy Whomore's head as she walked toward the "Fur and Nail" salon.

That morning my two best girlfriends in Whoville had dragged me out of my bed, much to my annoyance. They then pushed me into my hall bathroom and urged me to take ten minutes tops to get ready.

They wouldn't tell me why they were rushing me. Although, a few ideas came to mind when I saw Sandy Whowhore swaying her hips down the street we were on.

"Oh you know," Kayla said casually as we hid behind the dumpster across the street, "Doing a bit of damage control."

"Damage control," I said sarcastically.

"Sabotage," piped up May.

"Sabotage?"

"Revenge."

"The usual," May said finally.

I cocked an eyebrow up at the two of them.

"We know you feel like shit about yesterday," Kayla explained, as she smiled sweetly.

"Thanks for reminding me," I grumbled.

"And we know you just want to crawl under a rock and never been seen again by him," she continued as if she didn't hear me, "Especially since Jojo was being stupid and didn't say anything to your confession. So we've decided that it's time to eliminate the petty competition."

I glanced once more across the street to Sandy Whomore who was still skipping along her merry way with a disgustingly bright smile plastered on her cheeks. Her teeth were so white…

_Does she bleach them?_

"I don't understand," I said slowly. "'Eliminate the competition?'"

Kayla held up a hair dying kit. The shade was puke green. My eyes widened.

"No," I laughed, "No way in hell."

"Aren't you pissed at Sally Whowhore?"

"Yeah, but—"

"And don't you want to get her back for trying to take Jojo from you?"

"Well, yeah, but—"

"And don't you want to make sure she gets what she deserves?"

"Yeah, but—"

"Then what's the problem?" they both asked.

I rolled my eyes.

"You guys can do it if you want," I said, folding my arms, "But I…"

My voice trailed off as I watch Sandy slam the door on a poor old woman's face. She didn't even bother holding the door for the old woman.

The lady fell to the ground in surprise and struggled to get up.

I ground my teeth. Rude. Completely unnecessary. Sandy Whowhore was going down. Oh yes. She was going down.

"Right," I said, my eyes narrowing in anger, "Give me the dye. We're so doing this."


End file.
